The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Kellys and the O'Kellys, by Anthony
Trollope
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Title: The Kellys and the O'Kellys
Author: Anthony Trollope
Release Date: January, 2004 [EBook #4917]
[This file was first posted on March 27, 2002]
[Most recently updated June 28, 2004]
Edition: 11
Language: English
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***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KELLYS AND THE O'KELLYS***
E-text prepared by Andrew Turek and revised and annotated by Joseph E.
Loewenstein, M.D.
THE KELLYS AND THE O'KELLYS
by
ANTHONY TROLLOPE
Contents
I. The Trial
II. The Two Heiresses
III. Morrison's Hotel
IV. The Dunmore Inn
V. A Loving Brother
VI. The Escape
VII. Mr Barry Lynch Makes a Morning Call
VIII. Mr Martin Kelly Returns to Dunmore
IX. Mr Daly, the Attorney
X. Dot Blake's Advice
XI. The Earl of Cashel
XII. Fanny Wyndham
XIII. Father and Son
XIV. The Countess
XV. Handicap Lodge
XVI. Brien Boru
XVII. Martin Kelly's Courtship
XVIII. An Attorney's Office in Connaught
XIX. Mr Daly Visits the Dunmore Inn
XX. Very Liberal
XXI. Lord Ballindine at Home
XXII. The Hunt
XXIII. Dr Colligan
XXIV. Anty Lynch's Bed-Side; Scene the First
XXV. Anty Lynch's Bed-Side; Scene the Second
XXVI. Love's Ambassador
XXVII. Mr Lynch's Last Resource
XXVIII. Fanny Wyndham Rebels
XXIX. The Countess of Cashell in Trouble
XXX. Lord Kilcullen Obeys His Father
XXXI. The Two Friends
XXXII. How Lord Kilcullen Fares in His Wooing
XXXIII. Lord Kilcullen Makes Another Visit to the Book-Room
XXXIV. The Doctor Makes a Clean Breast of It
XXXV. Mr Lynch Bids Farewell to Dunmore
XXXVI. Mr Armstrong Visits Grey Abbey on a Delicate Mission
XXXVII. Veni; Vidi; Vici
XXXVIII. Wait Till I Tell You
XXXIX. It Never Rains but It Pours
XL. Conclusion
I. THE TRIAL
During the first two months of the year 1844, the greatest possible
excitement existed in Dublin respecting the State Trials, in which
Mr O'Connell, [1] his son, the Editors of three different repeal
newspapers, Tom Steele, the Rev. Mr Tierney--a priest who had taken
a somewhat prominent part in the Repeal Movement--and Mr Ray, the
Secretary to the Repeal Association, were indicted for conspiracy.
Those who only read of the proceedings in papers, which gave them as
a mere portion of the news of the day, or learned what was going on
in Dublin by chance conversation, can have no idea of the absorbing
interest which the whole affair created in Ireland, but more especially
in the metropolis. Every one felt strongly, on one side or on the
other. Every one had brought the matter home to his own bosom, and
looked to the result of the trial with individual interest and
suspense.
[FOOTNOTE 1: The historical events described here form a backdrop
to the novel. Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847) came from
a wealthy Irish Catholic family. He was educated in
the law, which he practiced most successfully, and
developed a passion for religious and political
liberty. In 1823, together with Lalor Sheil and
Thomas Wyse, he organized the Catholic Association,
whose major goal was Catholic emancipation. This was
achieved by act of parliament the following year.
O'Connell served in parliament in the 1830's and was
active in the passage of bills emancipating the Jews
and outlawing slavery. In 1840 he formed the Repeal
Association, whose goal was repeal of the 1800 Act
of Union which joined Ireland to Great Britain. In
1842, after serving a year as Lord Mayor of Dublin,
O'Connell challenged the British government by
announcing that he intended to achieve repeal within
a year. Though he openly opposed violence, Prime
Minister Peel's government considered him a threat
and arrested O'Connell and his associates in 1843
on trumped-up charges of conspiracy, sedition, and
unlawfule assembly. They were tried in 1844, and all
but one were convicted, although the conviction was
later overturned in the House of Lords. O'Connell did
serve some time in jail and was considered a martyr
to the cause of Irish independence.]
Even at this short interval Irishmen can now see how completely they
put judgment aside, and allowed feeling and passion to predominate in
the matter. Many of the hottest protestants, of the staunchest foes
to O'Connell, now believe that his absolute imprisonment was not to
be desired, and that whether he were acquitted or convicted, the
Government would have sufficiently shown, by instituting his trial, its
determination to put down proceedings of which they did not approve. On
the other hand, that class of men who then styled themselves Repealers
are now aware that the continued imprisonment of their leader--the
persecution, as they believed it to be, of "the Liberator" [2]--would
have been the one thing most certain to have sustained his influence,
and to have given fresh force to their agitation. Nothing ever so
strengthened the love of the Irish for, and the obedience of the Irish
to O'Connell, as his imprisonment; nothing ever so weakened his power
over them as his unexpected enfranchisement [3]. The country shouted
for joy when he was set free, and expended all its enthusiasm in the
effort.
[FOOTNOTE 2: The Irish often referred to Daniel O'Connell as
"the liberator."]
[FOOTNOTE 3: enfranchisement--being set free. This is a political
observation by Trollope.]
At the time, however, to which I am now referring, each party felt the
most intense interest in the struggle, and the most eager desire for
success. Every Repealer, and every Anti-Repealer in Dublin felt that
it was a contest, in which he himself was, to a certain extent,
individually engaged. All the tactics of the opposed armies, down to
the minutest legal details, were eagerly and passionately canvassed in
every circle. Ladies, who had before probably never heard of "panels"
in forensic phraseology, now spoke enthusiastically on the subject;
and those on one side expressed themselves indignant at the fraudulent
omission of certain names from the lists of jurors; while those on the
other were capable of proving the legality of choosing the jury from
the names which were given, and stated most positively that the
omissions were accidental.
"The traversers" [4] were in everybody's mouth--a term heretofore
confined to law courts, and lawyers' rooms. The Attorney-General,
the Commander-in-Chief of the Government forces, was most virulently
assailed; every legal step which he took was scrutinised and abused;
every measure which he used was base enough of itself to hand down his
name to everlasting infamy. Such were the tenets of the Repealers. And
O'Connell and his counsel, their base artifices, falsehoods, delays,
and unprofessional proceedings, were declared by the Saxon party to be
equally abominable.
[FOOTNOTE 4: traversers--Trollope repeatedly refers to the
defendants as "traversers." The term probably comes
from the legal term "to traverse," which is to deny
the charges against one in a common law proceeding.
Thus, the traversers would have been those who pled
innocent.]
The whole Irish bar seemed, for the time, to have laid aside the
habitual _sang froid_ [5] and indifference of lawyers, and to have
employed their hearts as well as their heads on behalf of the different
parties by whom they were engaged. The very jurors themselves for a
time became famous or infamous, according to the opinions of those
by whom their position was discussed. Their names and additions were
published and republished; they were declared to be men who would stand
by their country and do their duty without fear or favour--so said the
Protestants. By the Roman Catholics, they were looked on as perjurors
determined to stick to the Government with blind indifference to their
oaths. Their names are now, for the most part, forgotten, though so
little time has elapsed since they appeared so frequently before the
public.
[FOOTNOTE 5: sang froid--(French) coolness in a trying situation,
lack of excitability]
Every day's proceedings gave rise to new hopes and fears. The evidence
rested chiefly on the reports of certain short-hand writers, who had
been employed to attend Repeal meetings, and their examinations and
cross-examinations were read, re-read, and scanned with the minutest
care. Then, the various and long speeches of the different counsel,
who, day after day, continued to address the jury; the heat of one,
the weary legal technicalities of another, the perspicuity of a third,
and the splendid forensic eloquence of a fourth, were criticised,
depreciated and admired. It seemed as though the chief lawyers of the
day were standing an examination, and were candidates for some high
honour, which each was striving to secure.
The Dublin papers were full of the trial; no other subject, could, at
the time, either interest or amuse. I doubt whether any affair of the
kind was ever, to use the phrase of the trade, so well and perfectly
reported. The speeches appeared word for word the same in the columns
of newspapers of different politics. For four-fifths of the contents of
the paper it would have been the same to you whether you were reading
the Evening Mail, or the Freeman. Every word that was uttered in the
Court was of importance to every one in Dublin; and half-an-hour's
delay in ascertaining, to the minutest shade, what had taken place in
Court during any period, was accounted a sad misfortune.
The press round the Four Courts [6], every morning before the doors
were open, was very great: and except by the favoured few who were able
to obtain seats, it was only with extreme difficulty and perseverance,
that an entrance into the body of the Court could be obtained.
[FOOTNOTE 6: The Four Courts was a landmark courthouse in Dublin
named for the four divisions of the Irish judicial
system: Common Pleas, Chancery, Exchequer, and King's
Bench.]
It was on the eleventh morning of the proceedings, on the day on which
the defence of the traversers was to be commenced, that two young men,
who had been standing for a couple of hours in front of the doors of
the Court, were still waiting there, with what patience was left to
them, after having been pressed and jostled for so long a time. Richard
Lalor Sheil, however, was to address the jury on behalf of Mr John
O'Connell--and every one in Dublin knew that that was a treat not to
be lost. The two young men, too, were violent Repealers. The elder of
them was a three-year-old denizen of Dublin, who knew the names of
the contributors to the "Nation", who had constantly listened to the
indignation and enthusiasm of O'Connell, Smith O'Brien, and O'Neill
Daunt, in their addresses from the rostrum of the Conciliation Hall
[7]; who had drank much porter at Jude's, who had eaten many oysters
at Burton Bindon's, who had seen and contributed to many rows in the
Abbey Street Theatre; who, during his life in Dublin, had done many
things which he ought not to have done, and had probably made as
many omissions of things which it had behoved him to do. He had that
knowledge of the persons of his fellow-citizens, which appears to be so
much more general in Dublin than in any other large town; he could tell
you the name and trade of every one he met in the streets, and was a
judge of the character and talents of all whose employments partook, in
any degree, of a public nature. His name was Kelly; and, as his calling
was that of an attorney's clerk, his knowledge of character would be
peculiarly valuable in the scene at which he and his companion were so
anxious to be present.
[FOOTNOTE 7: Conciliation Hall, Dublin, was built in 1843 as a
meeting place for O'Connell's Repeal Association.]
The younger of the two brothers, for such they were, was a somewhat
different character. Though perhaps a more enthusiastic Repealer
than his brother, he was not so well versed in the details of Repeal
tactics, or in the strength and weakness of the Repeal ranks. He was a
young farmer, of the better class, from the County Mayo, where he held
three or four hundred wretchedly bad acres under Lord Ballindine, and
one or two other small farms, under different landlords. He was a
good-looking young fellow, about twenty-five years of age, with that
mixture of cunning and frankness in his bright eye, which is so common
among those of his class in Ireland, but more especially so in
Connaught.
The mother of these two young men kept an inn in the small town of
Dunmore, and though from the appearance of the place, one would be
led to suppose that there could not be in Dunmore much of that kind
of traffic which innkeepers love, Mrs Kelly was accounted a warm,
comfortable woman. Her husband had left her for a better world some
ten years since, with six children; and the widow, instead of making
continual use, as her chief support, of that common wail of being a
poor, lone woman, had put her shoulders to the wheel, and had earned
comfortably, by sheer industry, that which so many of her class, when
similarly situated, are willing to owe to compassion.
She held on the farm, which her husband rented from Lord Ballindine,
till her eldest son was able to take it. He, however, was now a
gauger [8] in the north of Ireland. Her second son was the attorney's
clerk; and the farm had descended to Martin, the younger, whom we have
left jostling and jostled at one of the great doors of the Four Courts,
and whom we must still leave there for a short time, while a few more
of the circumstances of his family are narrated.
[FOOTNOTE 8: gauger--a British revenue officer often engaged in
the collection of duties on distilled spirits.]
Mrs Kelly had, after her husband's death, added a small grocer's
establishment to her inn. People wondered where she had found the means
of supplying her shop: some said that old Mick Kelly must have had
money when he died, though it was odd how a man who drank so much could
ever have kept a shilling by him. Others remarked how easy it was to
get credit in these days, and expressed a hope that the wholesale
dealer in Pill Lane might be none the worse. However this might be,
the widow Kelly kept her station firmly and constantly behind her
counter, wore her weeds and her warm, black, stuff dress decently and
becomingly, and never asked anything of anybody.
At the time of which we are writing, her two elder sons had left her,
and gone forth to make their own way, and take the burden of the world
on their own shoulders. Martin still lived with his mother, though his
farm lay four miles distant, on the road to Ballindine, and in another
county--for Dunmore is in County Galway, and the lands of Toneroe, as
Martin's farm was called, were in the County Mayo. One of her three
daughters had lately been married to a shop-keeper in Tuam, and rumour
said that he had got £500 with her; and Pat Daly was not the man to
have taken a wife for nothing. The other two girls, Meg and Jane, still
remained under their mother's wing, and though it was to be presumed
that they would soon fly abroad, with the same comfortable plumage
which had enabled their sister to find so warm a nest, they were
obliged, while sharing their mother's home, to share also her labours,
and were not allowed to be too proud to cut off pennyworths of tobacco,
and mix dandies of punch for such of their customers as still preferred
the indulgence of their throats to the blessing of Father Mathew.
Mrs. Kelly kept two ordinary in-door servants to assist in the work of
the house; one, an antiquated female named Sally, who was more devoted
to her tea-pot than ever was any bacchanalian to his glass. Were there
four different teas in the inn in one evening, she would have drained
the pot after each, though she burst in the effort. Sally was, in all,
an honest woman, and certainly a religious one;--she never neglected
her devotional duties, confessed with most scrupulous accuracy the
various peccadillos of which she might consider herself guilty; and
it was thought, with reason, by those who knew her best, that all the
extra prayers she said,--and they were very many,--were in atonement
for commissions of continual petty larceny with regard to sugar. On
this subject did her old mistress quarrel with her, her young mistress
ridicule her; of this sin did her fellow-servant accuse her; and,
doubtless, for this sin did her Priest continually reprove her; but
in vain. Though she would not own it, there was always sugar in
her pocket, and though she declared that she usually drank her tea
unsweetened, those who had come upon her unawares had seen her
extracting the pinches of moist brown saccharine from the huge slit
in her petticoat, and could not believe her.
Kate, the other servant, was a red-legged lass, who washed the
potatoes, fed the pigs, and ate her food nobody knew when or where.
Kates, particularly Irish Kates, are pretty by prescription; but Mrs.
Kelly's Kate had been excepted, and was certainly a most positive
exception. Poor Kate was very ugly. Her hair had that appearance of
having been dressed by the turkey-cock, which is sometimes presented by
the heads of young women in her situation; her mouth extended nearly
from ear to ear; her neck and throat, which were always nearly bare,
presented no feminine charms to view; and her short coarse petticoat
showed her red legs nearly to the knee; for, except on Sundays, she
knew not the use of shoes and stockings. But though Kate was ungainly
and ugly, she was useful, and grateful--very fond of the whole family,
and particularly attached to the two young ladies, in whose behalf she
doubtless performed many a service, acceptable enough to them, but of
which, had she known of them, the widow would have been but little
likely to approve.
Such was Mrs. Kelly's household at the time that her son Martin left
Connaught to pay a short visit to the metropolis, during the period of
O'Connell's trial. But, although Martin was a staunch Repealer, and had
gone as far as Galway, and Athlone, to be present at the Monster Repeal
Meetings which had been held there, it was not political anxiety alone
which led him to Dublin. His landlord; the young Lord Ballindine, was
there; and, though Martin could not exactly be said to act as his
lordship's agent--for Lord Ballindine had, unfortunately, a legal
agent, with whose services his pecuniary embarrassments did not
allow him to dispense--he was a kind of confidential tenant, and
his attendance had been requested. Martin, moreover, had a somewhat
important piece of business of his own in hand, which he expected would
tend greatly to his own advantage; and, although he had fully made up
his mind to carry it out if possible, he wanted, in conducting it, a
little of his brother's legal advice, and, above all, his landlord's
sanction.
This business was nothing less than an intended elopement with an
heiress belonging to a rank somewhat higher than that in which Martin
Kelly might be supposed to look, with propriety, for his bride; but
Martin was a handsome fellow, not much burdened with natural modesty,
and he had, as he supposed, managed to engage the affections of
Anastasia Lynch, a lady resident near Dunmore.
All particulars respecting Martin's intended--the amount of her
fortune--her birth and parentage--her age and attractions--shall,
in due time, be made known; or rather, perhaps, be suffered to make
themselves known. In the mean time we will return to the two brothers,
who are still anxiously waiting to effect an entrance into the august
presence of the Law.
Martin had already told his brother of his matrimonial speculations,
and had received certain hints from that learned youth as to the proper
means of getting correct information as to the amount of the lady's
wealth,--her power to dispose of it by her own deed,--and certain other
particulars always interesting to gentlemen who seek money and love at
the same time. John did not quite approve of the plan; there might have
been a shade of envy at his brother's good fortune; there might be
some doubt as to his brother's power of carrying the affair through
successfully; but, though he had not encouraged him, he gave him the
information he wanted, and was as willing to talk over the matter as
Martin could desire.
As they were standing in the crowd, their conversation ran partly on
Repeal and O'Connell, and partly on matrimony and Anty Lynch, as the
lady was usually called by those who knew her best.
"Tear and 'ouns Misther Lord Chief Justice!" exclaimed Martin, "and are
ye niver going to opin them big doors?"
"And what'd be the good of his opening them yet," answered John, "when
a bigger man than himself an't there? Dan and the other boys isn't in
it yet, and sure all the twelve judges couldn't get on a peg without
them."
"Well, Dan, my darling!" said the other, "you're thought more of here
this day than the lot of 'em, though the place in a manner belongs to
them, and you're only a prisoner."
"Faix and that's what he's not, Martin; no more than yourself, nor so
likely, may-be. He's the traverser, as I told you before, and that's
not being a prisoner. If he were a prisoner, how did he manage to tell
us all what he did at the Hall yesterday?"
"Av' he's not a prisoner, he's the next-door to it; it's not of his own
free will and pleasure he'd come here to listen to all the lies them
thundhering Saxon ruffians choose to say about him."
"And why not? Why wouldn't he come here and vindicate himself? When you
hear Sheil by and by, you'll see then whether they think themselves
likely to be prisoners! No--no; they never will be, av' there's a ghost
of a conscience left in one of them Protesthant raps, that they've
picked so carefully out of all Dublin to make jurors of. They can't
convict 'em! I heard Ford, the night before last, offer four to one
that they didn't find the lot guilty; and he knows what he's about, and
isn't the man to thrust a Protestant half as far as he'd see him."
"Isn't Tom Steele a Protesthant himself, John?"
"Well, I believe he is. So's Gray, and more of 'em too; but there's a
difference between them and the downright murdhering Tory set. Poor Tom
doesn't throuble the Church much; but you'll be all for Protesthants
now, Martin, when you've your new brother-in-law. Barry used to be one
of your raal out-and-outers!"
"It's little, I'm thinking, I and Barry'll be having to do together,
unless it be about the brads; and the law about them now, thank God,
makes no differ for Roman and Protesthant. Anty's as good a Catholic
as ever breathed, and so was her mother before her; and when she's Mrs
Kelly, as I mane to make her, Master Barry may shell out the cash and
go to heaven his own way for me."
"It ain't the family then, you're fond of, Martin! And I wondher at
that, considering how old Sim loved us all."
"Niver mind Sim, John! he's dead and gone; and av' he niver did a good
deed before, he did one when he didn't lave all his cash to that
precious son of his, Barry Lynch."
"You're prepared for squalls with Barry, I suppose?"
"He'll have all the squalling on his own side, I'm thinking, John. I
don't mane to squall, for one. I don't see why I need, with £400 a-year
in my pocket, and a good wife to the fore."
"The £400 a-year's good enough, av' you touch it, certainly," said the
man of law, thinking of his own insufficient guinea a-week, "and you
must look to have some throuble yet afore you do that. But as to the
wife--why, the less said the better--eh, Martin?
"Av' it's not asking too much, might I throuble you, sir, to set
anywhere else but on my shouldher?" This was addressed to a very fat
citizen, who was wheezing behind Martin, and who, to escape suffocation
in the crowd, was endeavouring to raise himself on his neighbour's
shoulders. "And why the less said the better?--I wish yourself may
never have a worse."
"I wish I mayn't, Martin, as far as the cash goes; and a man like me
might look a long time in Dublin before he got a quarter of the money.
But you must own Anty's no great beauty, and she's not over young,
either."
"Av' she's no beauty, she's not downright ugly, like many a girl that
gets a good husband; and av' she's not over young, she's not over old.
She's not so much older than myself, after all. It's only because her
own people have always made nothing of her; that's what has made
everybody else do the same."
"Why, Martin, I know she's ten years older than Barry, and Barry's
older than you!"
"One year; and Anty's not full ten years older than him. Besides,
what's ten years between man and wife?"
"Not much, when it's on the right side. But it's the wrong side with
you, Martin!"
"Well, John, now, by virtue of your oath, as you chaps say, wouldn't
you marry a woman twice her age, av' she'd half the money?--Begad you
would, and leap at it!"
"Perhaps I would. I'd a deal sooner have a woman eighty than forty.
There'd be some chance then of having the money after the throuble was
over! Anty's neither ould enough nor young enough."
"She's not forty, any way; and won't be yet for five years and more;
and, as I hope for glory, John--though I know you won't believe me--I
wouldn't marry her av' she'd all Sim Lynch's ill-gotten property,
instead of only half, av' I wasn't really fond of her, and av' I didn't
think I'd make her a good husband."
"You didn't tell mother what you're afther, did you?"
"Sorrow a word! But she's so 'cute she partly guesses; and I think Meg
let slip something. The girls and Anty are thick as thiefs since old
Sim died; though they couldn't be at the house much since Barry came
home, and Anty daren't for her life come down to the shop."
"Did mother say anything about the schame?"
"Faix, not much; but what she did say, didn't show she'd much mind for
it. Since Sim Lynch tried to get Toneroe from her, when father died,
she'd never a good word for any of them. Not but what she's always a
civil look for Anty, when she sees her."
"There's not much fear she'll look black on the wife, when you bring
the money home with her. But where'll you live, Martin? The little shop
at Dunmore'll be no place for Mrs Kelly, when there's a lady of the
name with £400 a-year of her own."
"'Deed then, John, and that's what I don't know. May-be I'll build up
the ould house at Toneroe; some of the O'Kellys themselves lived there,
years ago."
"I believe they did; but it was years ago, and very many years ago,
too, since they lived there. Why you'd have to pull it all down, before
you began to build it up!"
"May-be I'd build a new house, out and out. Av' I got three new lifes
in the laise, I'd do that; and the lord wouldn't be refusing me, av' I
asked him."
"Bother the lord, Martin; why you'd be asking anything of any lord, and
you with £400 a-year of your own? Give up Toneroe, and go and live at
Dunmore House at once."
"What! along with Barry--when I and Anty's married? The biggest house
in county Galway wouldn't hould the three of us."
"You don't think Barry Lynch'll stay at Dunmore afther you've married
his sisther?"
"And why not?"
"Why not! Don't you know Barry thinks himself one of the raal gentry
now? Any ways, he wishes others to think so. Why, he'd even himself
to Lord Ballindine av' he could! Didn't old Sim send him to the same
English school with the lord on purpose?--tho' little he got by it,
by all accounts! And d'you think he'll remain in Dunmore, to be
brother-in-law to the son of the woman that keeps the little grocer's
shop in the village?--Not he! He'll soon be out of Dunmore when he
hears what his sister's afther doing, and you'll have Dunmore House to
yourselves then, av' you like it."
"I'd sooner live at Toneroe, and that's the truth; and I'd not give
up the farm av' she'd double the money! But, John, faith, here's the
judges at last. Hark, to the boys screeching!"
"They'd not screech that way for the judges, my boy. It's the
traversers--that's Dan and the rest of 'em. They're coming into court.
Thank God, they'll soon be at work now!"
"And will they come through this way? Faith, av' they do, they'll have
as hard work to get in, as they'll have to get out by and by."
"They'll not come this way--there's another way in for them: tho' they
are traversers now, they didn't dare but let them go in at the same
door as the judges themselves."
"Hurrah, Dan! More power to you! Three cheers for the traversers, and
Repale for ever! Success to every mother's son of you, my darlings!
You'll be free yet, in spite of John Jason Rigby and the rest of 'em!
The prison isn't yet built that'd hould ye, nor won't be! Long life to
you, Sheil--sure you're a Right Honourable Repaler now, in spite of
Greenwich Hospital and the Board of Trade! More power, Gavan Duffy;
you're the boy that'll settle 'em at last! Three cheers more for the
Lord Mayor, God bless him! Well, yer reverence, Mr Tierney!--never
mind, they could come to no good when they'd be parsecuting the likes
of you! Bravo, Tom--Hurrah for Tom Steele!"
Such, and such like, were the exclamations which greeted the
traversers, and their _cortège_, as they drew up to the front of the
Four Courts. Dan O'Connell was in the Lord Mayor's state carriage,
accompanied by that high official; and came up to stand his trial for
conspiracy and sedition, in just such a manner as he might be presumed
to proceed to take the chair at some popular municipal assembly; and
this was just the thing qualified to please those who were on his own
side, and mortify the feelings of the party so bitterly opposed to him.
There was a bravado in it, and an apparent contempt, not of the law so
much as of the existing authorities of the law, which was well
qualified to have this double effect.
And now the outer doors of the Court were opened, and the crowd--at
least as many as were able to effect an entrance--rushed in. Martin
and John Kelly were among those nearest to the door, and, in reward of
their long patience, got sufficiently into the body of the Court to be
in a position to see, when standing on tiptoe, the noses of three of
the four judges, and the wigs of four of the numerous counsel employed.
The Court was so filled by those who had a place there by right, or
influence enough to assume that they had so, that it was impossible
to obtain a more favourable situation. But this of itself was a great
deal--quite sufficient to justify Martin in detailing to his Connaught
friends every particular of the whole trial. They would probably
be able to hear everything; they could positively see three of the
judges, and if those two big policemen, with high hats, could by any
possibility be got to remove themselves, it was very probable that
they would be able to see Sheil's back, when he stood up.
John soon began to show off his forensic knowledge. He gave a near
guess at the names of the four counsel whose heads were visible,
merely from the different shades and shapes of their wigs. Then he
particularised the inferior angels of that busy Elysium.
"That's Ford--that's Gartlan--that's Peirce Mahony," he exclaimed, as
the different attorneys for the traversers, furiously busy with their
huge bags, fidgetted about rapidly, or stood up in their seats,
telegraphing others in different parts of the Court.
"There's old Kemmis," as they caught a glimpse of the Crown agent;
"he's the boy that doctored the jury list. Fancy, a jury chosen out of
all Dublin, and not one Catholic! As if that could be fair!" And then
he named the different judges. "Look at that big-headed, pig-faced
fellow on the right--that's Pennefather! He's the blackest sheep of the
lot--and the head of them! He's a thoroughbred Tory, and as fit to be a
judge as I am to be a general. That queer little fellow, with the long
chin, he's Burton--he's a hundred if he's a day--he was fifty when he
was called, seventy when they benched him, and I'm sure he's a judge
thirty years! But he's the sharpest chap of the whole twelve, and no
end of a boy afther the girls. If you only saw him walking in his
robes--I'm sure he's not three feet high! That next, with the skinny
neck, he's Crampton--he's one of Father Mathews lads, an out and out
teetotaller, and he looks it; he's a desperate cross fellow, sometimes!
The other one, you can't see, he's Perrin. There, he's leaning
over--you can just catch the side of his face--he's Perrin. It's he'll
acquit the traversers av' anything does--he's a fair fellow, is Perrin,
and not a red-hot thorough-going Tory like the rest of 'em."
Here John was obliged to give over the instruction of his brother,
being enjoined so to do by one of the heavy-hatted policemen in his
front, who enforced his commands for silence, with a backward shove of
his wooden truncheon, which came with rather unnecessary violence
against the pit of John's stomach.
The fear of being turned out made him for the nonce refrain from that
vengeance of abuse which his education as a Dublin Jackeen well
qualified him to inflict. But he put down the man's face in his
retentive memory, and made up his mind to pay him off.
And now the business of the day commenced. After some official delays
and arrangements Sheil arose, and began his speech in defence of John
O'Connell. It would be out of place here to give either his words or
his arguments; besides, they have probably before this been read by all
who would care to read them. When he commenced, his voice appeared, to
those who were not accustomed to hear him, weak, piping, and most unfit
for a popular orator; but this effect was soon lost in the elegance of
his language and the energy of his manner; and, before he had been ten
minutes on his legs, the disagreeable tone was forgotten, though it was
sounding in the eager ears of every one in the Court.
His speech was certainly brilliant, effective, and eloquent; but it
satisfied none that heard him, though it pleased all. It was neither
a defence of the general conduct and politics of the party, such as
O'Connell himself attempted in his own case, nor did it contain a chain
of legal arguments to prove that John O'Connell, individually, had
not been guilty of conspiracy, such as others of the counsel employed
subsequently in favour of their own clients.
Sheil's speech was one of those numerous anomalies with which this
singular trial was crowded; and which, together, showed the great
difficulty of coming to a legal decision on a political question, in
a criminal court. Of this, the present day gave two specimens, which
will not be forgotten; when a Privy Councillor, a member of a former
government, whilst defending his client as a barrister, proposed in
Court a new form of legislation for Ireland, equally distant from that
adopted by Government, and that sought to be established by him whom he
was defending; and when the traverser on his trial rejected the defence
of his counsel, and declared aloud in Court, that he would not, by his
silence, appear to agree in the suggestions then made.
This spirit of turning the Court into a political debating arena
extended to all present. In spite of the vast efforts made by them
all, only one of the barristers employed has added much to his legal
reputation by the occasion. Imputations were made, such as I presume
were never before uttered by one lawyer against another in a court of
law. An Attorney-General sent a challenge from his very seat of office;
and though that challenge was read in Court, it was passed over by four
judges with hardly a reprimand. If any seditious speech was ever made
by O'Connell, that which he made in his defence was especially so, and
he was, without check, allowed to use his position as a traverser at
the bar, as a rostrum from which to fulminate more thoroughly and
publicly than ever, those doctrines for uttering which he was then
being tried; and, to crown it all, even the silent dignity of the
bench was forgotten, and the lawyers pleading against the Crown were
unhappily alluded to by the Chief Justice as the "gentlemen on the
_other_ side."
Martin and John patiently and enduringly remained standing the whole
day, till four o'clock; and then the latter had to effect his escape,
in order to keep an appointment which he had made to meet Lord
Ballindine.
As they walked along the quays they both discussed the proceedings of
the day, and both expressed themselves positively certain of the result
of the trial, and of the complete triumph of O'Connell and his party.
To these pleasant certainties Martin added his conviction, that Repeal
must soon follow so decided a victory, and that the hopes of Ireland
would be realised before the close of 1844. John was neither so
sanguine nor so enthusiastic; it was the battle, rather than the thing
battled for, that was dear to him; the strife, rather than the result.
He felt that it would be dull times in Dublin, when they should have
no usurping Government to abuse, no Saxon Parliament to upbraid, no
English laws to ridicule, and no Established Church to curse.
The only thing which could reconcile him to immediate Repeal, would be
the probability of having then to contend for the election of an Irish
Sovereign, and the possible dear delight which might follow, of Ireland
going to war with England, in a national and becoming manner.
Discussing these important measures, they reached the Dublin brother's
lodgings, and Martin turned in to wash his face and hands, and put on
clean boots, before he presented himself to his landlord and patron,
the young Lord Ballindine.
II. THE TWO HEIRESSES
Francis John Mountmorris O'Kelly, Lord Viscount Ballindine, was
twenty-four years of age when he came into possession of the Ballindine
property, and succeeded to an Irish peerage as the third viscount; and
he is now twenty-six, at this time of O'Connell's trial. The head of
the family had for many years back been styled "The O'Kelly", and had
enjoyed much more local influence under that denomination than their
descendants had possessed, since they had obtained a more substantial
though not a more respected title. The O'Kellys had possessed large
tracts of not very good land, chiefly in County Roscommon, but partly
in Mayo and Galway. Their property had extended from Dunmore nearly to
Roscommon, and again on the other side to Castlerea and Ballyhaunis.
But this had been in their palmy days, long, long ago. When the
government, in consideration of past services, in the year 1800,
converted "the O'Kelly" into Viscount Ballindine, the family property
consisted of the greater portion of the land lying between the villages
of Dunmore and Ballindine. Their old residence, which the peer still
kept up, was called Kelly's Court, and is situated in that corner of
County Roscommnon which runs up between Mayo and Galway.
The first lord lived long enough to regret his change of title, and to
lament the increased expenditure with which he had thought it necessary
to accompany his more elevated rank. His son succeeded, and showed in
his character much more of the new-fangled viscount than of the ancient
O'Kelly. His whole long life was passed in hovering about the English
Court. From the time of his father's death, he never once put his foot
in Ireland. He had been appointed, at different times from his youth
upwards, Page, Gentleman in Waiting, Usher of the Black Rod, Deputy
Groom of the Stole, Chief Equerry to the Princess Royal, (which
appointment only lasted till the princess was five years old), Lord
Gold Stick, Keeper of the Royal Robes; till, at last, he had culminated
for ten halcyon years in a Lord of the Bedchamber. In the latter
portion of his life he had grown too old for this, and it was reported
at Ballindine, Dunmore, and Kelly's Court,--with how much truth I don't
know,--that, since her Majesty's accession, he had been joined with
the spinster sister of a Scotch Marquis, and an antiquated English
Countess, in the custody of the laces belonging to the Queen Dowager.
This nobleman, publicly useful as his life had no doubt been, had done
little for his own tenants, or his own property. On his father's death,
he had succeeded to about three thousand a-year, and he left about one;
and he would have spent or mortgaged this, had he not, on his marriage,
put it beyond his own power to do so. It was not only by thriftless
extravagance that he thus destroyed a property which, with care, and
without extortion, would have doubled its value in the thirty-five
years during which it was in his hands; but he had been afraid to come
to Ireland, and had been duped by his agent. When he came to the title,
Simeon Lynch had been recommended to him as a fit person to manage his
property, and look after his interests; and Simeon had managed it well
in that manner most conducive to the prosperity of the person he loved
best in the world; and that was himself. When large tracts of land fell
out of lease, Sim had represented that tenants could not be found--that
the land was not worth cultivating--that the country was in a state
which prevented the possibility of letting; and, ultimately put himself
into possession, with a lease for ever, at a rent varying from half a
crown to five shillings an acre.
The courtier lord had one son, of whom he made a soldier, but who never
rose to a higher rank than that of Captain. About a dozen years before
the date of my story, the Honourable Captain O'Kelly, after numerous
quarrels with the Right Honourable Lord of the Bedchamber, had, at
last, come to some family settlement with him; and, having obtained
the power of managing the property himself, came over to live at his
paternal residence of Kelly's Court.
A very sorry kind of Court he found it,--neglected, dirty, and out of
repair. One of the first retainers whom he met was Jack Kelly, the
family fool. Jack was not such a fool as those who, of yore, were
valued appendages to noble English establishments. He resembled them in
nothing but his occasional wit. He was a dirty, barefooted, unshorn,
ragged ruffian, who ate potatoes in the kitchen of the Court, and had
never done a day's work in his life. Such as he was, however, he was
presented to Captain O'Kelly, as "his honour the masther's fool."
"So, you're my fool, Jack, are ye?" said the Captain.
"Faix, I war the lord's fool ance; but I'll no be anybody's fool but
Sim Lynch's, now. I and the lord are both Sim's fools now. Not but I'm
the first of the two, for I'd never be fool enough to give away all my
land, av' my father'd been wise enough to lave me any."
Captain O'Kelly soon found out the manner in which the agent had
managed his father's affairs. Simeon Lynch was dismissed, and
proceedings at common law were taken against him, to break such of the
leases as were thought, by clever attorneys, to have the ghost of a
flaw in them. Money was borrowed from a Dublin house, for the purpose
of carrying on the suit, paying off debts, and making Kelly's Court
habitable; and the estate was put into their hands. Simeon Lynch built
himself a large staring house at Dunmore, defended his leases, set up
for a country gentleman on his own account, and sent his only son,
Barry, to Eton,--merely because young O'Kelly was also there, and he
was determined to show, that he was as rich and ambitious as the lord's
family, whom he had done so much to ruin.
Kelly's Court was restored to such respectability as could ever belong
to so ugly a place. It was a large red stone mansion, standing in
a demesne of very poor ground, ungifted by nature with any beauty,
and but little assisted by cultivation or improvement. A belt of
bald-looking firs ran round the demesne inside the dilapidated wall;
but this was hardly sufficient to relieve the barren aspect of the
locality. Fine trees there were none, and the race of O'Kellys had
never been great gardeners.
Captain O'Kelly was a man of more practical sense, or of better
education, than most of his family, and he did do a good deal to
humanise the place. He planted, tilled, manured, and improved; he
imported rose-trees and strawberry-plants, and civilised Kelly's Court
a little. But his reign was not long. He died about five years after he
had begun his career as a country gentleman, leaving a widow and two
daughters in Ireland; a son at school at Eton; and an expensive
lawsuit, with numerous ramifications, all unsettled.
Francis, the son, went to Eton and Oxford, was presented at Court by
his grandfather, and came hack to Ireland at twenty-two, to idle away
his time till the old lord should die. Till this occurred, he could
neither call himself the master of the place, nor touch the rents. In
the meantime, the lawsuits were dropped, both parties having seriously
injured their resources, without either of them obtaining any benefit.
Barry Lynch was recalled from his English education, where he had not
shown off to any great credit; and both he and his father were obliged
to sit down prepared to make the best show they could on eight hundred
pounds a-year, and to wage an underhand internecine war with the
O'Kellys.
Simeon and his son, however, did not live altogether alone. Anastasia
Lynch was Barry's sister, and older than him by about ten years. Their
mother had been a Roman Catholic, whereas Sim was a Protestant; and, in
consequence, the daughter had been brought up in the mother's, and the
son in the father's religion. When this mother died, Simeon, no doubt
out of respect to the memory of the departed, tried hard to induce his
daughter to prove her religious zeal, and enter a nunnery; but this,
Anty, though in most things a docile creature, absolutely refused to
do. Her father advised, implored, and threatened; but in vain; and the
poor girl became a great thorn in the side of both father and son.
She had neither beauty, talent, nor attraction, to get her a husband;
and her father was determined not to encumber his already diminished
property with such a fortune as would make her on that ground
acceptable to any respectable suitor.
Poor Anty led a miserable life, associating neither with superiors
nor inferiors, and her own position was not sufficiently declared to
enable her to have any equals. She was slighted by her father and the
servants, and bullied by her brother; and was only just enabled, by
humble, unpresuming disposition, to carry on her tedious life from year
to year without grumbling.
In the meantime, the _ci-devant_ [9] Black Rod, Gold Stick, Royal
Equerry, and Lord of the Bedchamber, was called away from his robes and
his finery, to give an account of the manner in which he had renounced
the pomps and vanities of this wicked world; and Frank became Lord
Ballindine, with, as I have before said, an honourable mother, two
sisters, a large red house, and a thousand a-year. He was not at all
a man after the pattern of his grandfather, but he appeared as little
likely to redeem the old family acres. He seemed to be a reviving chip
of the old block of the O'Kellys. During the two years he had been
living at Kelly's Court as Frank O'Kelly, he had won the hearts of all
the tenants--of all those who would have been tenants if the property
had not been sold, and who still looked up to him as their "raal young
masther"--and of the whole country round. The "thrue dhrop of the ould
blood", was in his veins; and, whatever faults he might have, he wasn't
likely to waste his time and his cash with furs, laces, and hangings.
[FOOTNOTE 9: ci-devant--(French) former, previous]
This was a great comfort to the neighbourhood, which had learned
heartily to despise the name of Lord Ballindine; and Frank was
encouraged in shooting, hunting, racing--in preparing to be a thorough
Irish gentleman, and in determining to make good the prophecies of his
friends, that he would be, at last, one more "raal O'Kelly to brighten
the counthry."
And if he could have continued to be Frank O'Kelly, or even "the
O'Kelly", he would probably have done well enough, for he was fond of
his mother and sisters, and he might have continued to hunt, shoot, and
farm on his remaining property without further encroaching on it. But
the title was sure to be his ruin. When he felt himself to be a lord,
he could not be content with the simple life of a country gentleman;
or, at any rate, without taking the lead in the country. So, as soon as
the old man was buried, he bought a pack of harriers, and despatched
a couple of race-horses to the skilful hands of old Jack Igoe, the
Curragh trainer.
Frank was a very handsome fellow, full six feet high, with black hair,
and jet-black silky whiskers, meeting under his chin;--the men said he
dyed them, and the women declared he did not. I am inclined, myself,
to think he must have done so, they were so very black. He had an eye
like a hawk, round, bright, and bold; a mouth and chin almost too well
formed for a man; and that kind of broad forehead which conveys rather
the idea of a generous, kind, open-hearted disposition, than of a deep
mind or a commanding intellect.
Frank was a very handsome fellow, and he knew it; and when he commenced
so many ill-authorised expenses immediately on his grandfather's death,
he consoled himself with the idea, that with his person and rank, he
would soon be able, by some happy matrimonial speculation, to make up
for what he wanted in wealth. And he had not been long his own master,
before he met with the lady to whom he destined the honour of doing so.
He had, however, not properly considered his own disposition, when he
determined upon looking out for great wealth; and on disregarding other
qualifications in his bride, so that he obtained that in sufficient
quantity. He absolutely fell in love with Fanny Wyndham, though her
twenty thousand pounds was felt by him to be hardly enough to excuse
him in doing so,--certainly not enough to make his doing so an
accomplishment of his prudential resolutions. What would twenty
thousand pounds do towards clearing the O'Kelly property, and
establishing himself in a manner and style fitting for a Lord
Ballindine! However, he did propose to her, was accepted, and the
match, after many difficulties, was acceded to by the lady's guardian,
the Earl of Cashel. It was stipulated, however, that the marriage
should not take place till the lady was of age; and at the time of
the bargain, she wanted twelve months of that period of universal
discretion. Lord Cashel had added, in his prosy, sensible, aristocratic
lecture on the subject to Lord Ballindine, that he trusted that, during
the interval, considering their united limited income, his lordship
would see the wisdom of giving up his hounds, or at any rate of
withdrawing from the turf.
Frank pooh-poohed at the hounds, said that horses cost nothing in
Connaught, and dogs less, and that he could not well do there without
them; but promised to turn in his mind what Lord Cashel had said
about the turf; and, at last, went so far as to say that when a good
opportunity offered of backing out, he would part with Finn M'Coul and
Granuell--as the two nags at Igoe's were patriotically denominated.
They continued, however, appearing in the Curragh lists in Lord
Ballindine's name, as a part of Igoe's string; and running for Queen's
whips, Wellingtons and Madrids, sometimes with good and sometimes with
indifferent success. While their noble owner, when staying at Grey
Abbey, Lord Cashel's magnificent seat near Kilcullen, spent too much
of his time (at least so thought the earl and Fanny Wyndham) in seeing
them get their gallops, and in lecturing the grooms, and being lectured
by Mr Igoe. Nothing more, however, could be done; and it was trusted
that when the day of the wedding should come, he would be found minus
the animals. What, however, was Lord Cashel's surprise, when, after an
absence of two months from Grey Abbey, Lord Ballindine declared, in the
earl's presence, with an air of ill-assumed carelessness, that he had
been elected one of the stewards of the Curragh, in the room of Walter
Blake, Esq., who had retired in rotation from that honourable office!
The next morning the earl's chagrin was woefully increased by his
hearing that that very valuable and promising Derby colt, Brien Boru,
now two years old, by Sir Hercules out of Eloisa, had been added to his
lordship's lot.
Lord Cashel felt that he could not interfere, further than by remarking
that it appeared his young friend was determined to leave the turf with
éclat; and Fanny Wyndham could only be silent and reserved for one
evening. This occurred about four months before the commencement of my
tale, and about five before the period fixed for the marriage; but, at
the time at which Lord Ballindine will be introduced in person to the
reader, he had certainly made no improvement in his manner of going
on. He had, during this period, received from Lord Cashel a letter
intimating to him that his lordship thought some further postponement
advisable; that it was as well not to fix any day; and that, though
his lordship would always be welcome at Grey Abbey, when his personal
attendance was not required at the Curragh, it was better that no
correspondence by letter should at present be carried on between him
and Miss Wyndham; and that Miss Wyndham herself perfectly agreed in the
propriety of these suggestions.
Now Grey Abbey was only about eight miles distant from the Curragh,
and Lord Ballindine had at one time been in the habit of staying
at his friend's mansion, during the period of his attendance at the
race-course; but since Lord Cashel had shown an entire absence of
interest in the doings of Finn M'Coul, and Fanny had ceased to ask
after Granuell's cough, he had discontinued doing so, and had spent
much of his time at his friend Walter Blake's residence at the Curragh.
Now, Handicap Lodge offered much more dangerous quarters for him than
did Grey Abbey.
In the meantime, his friends in Connaught were delighted at the
prospect of his bringing home a bride. Fanny's twenty thousand were
magnified to fifty, and the capabilities even of fifty were greatly
exaggerated; besides, the connection was so good a one, so exactly
the thing for the O'Kellys! Lord Cashel was one of the first resident
noblemen in Ireland, a representative peer, a wealthy man, and
possessed of great influence; not unlikely to be a cabinet minister if
the Whigs came in, and able to shower down into Connaught a degree of
patronage, such as had never yet warmed that poor unfriended region.
And Fanny Wyndham was not only his lordship's ward, but his favourite
niece also! The match was, in every way, a good one, and greatly
pleasing to all the Kellys, whether with an O or without, for "shure
they were all the one family."
Old Simeon Lynch and his son Barry did not participate in the general
joy. They had calculated that their neighbour was on the high road to
ruin, and that he would soon have nothing but his coronet left. They
could not, therefore, bear the idea of his making so eligible a match.
They had, moreover, had domestic dissensions to disturb the peace of
Dunmore House. Simeon had insisted on Barry's taking a farm into his
own hands, and looking after it. Barry had declared his inability to
do so, and had nearly petrified the old man by expressing a wish to go
to Paris. Then, Barry's debts had showered in, and Simeon had pledged
himself not to pay them. Simeon had threatened to disinherit Barry; and
Barry had called his father a d----d obstinate old fool.
These quarrels had got to the ears of the neighbours, and it was being
calculated that, in the end, Barry would get the best of the battle;
when, one morning, the war was brought to an end by a fit of apoplexy,
and the old man was found dead in his chair. And then a terrible blow
fell upon the son; for a recent will was found in the old man's desk,
dividing his property equally, and without any other specification,
between Barry and Anty.
This was a dreadful blow to Barry. He consulted with his friend Molloy,
the attorney of Tuam, as to the validity of the document and the power
of breaking it; but in vain. It was properly attested, though drawn up
in the old man's own hand-writing; and his sister, whom he looked upon
but as little better than a head main-servant, had not only an equal
right to all the property, but was equally mistress of the house, the
money at the bank, the wine in the cellar, and the very horses in the
stable.
This was a hard blow; but Barry was obliged to bear it. At first, he
showed his ill-humour plainly enough in his treatment of his sister;
but he soon saw that this was folly, and that, though her quiet
disposition prevented her from resenting it, such conduct would drive
her to marry some needy man. Then he began, with an ill grace, to try
what coaxing would do. He kept, however, a sharp watch on all her
actions; and on once hearing that, in his absence, the two Kelly girls
from the hotel had been seen walking with her, he gave her a long
lecture on what was due to her own dignity, and the memory of her
departed parents.
He made many overtures to her as to the division of the property; but,
easy and humble as Anty was, she was careful enough to put her name to
nothing that could injure her rights. They had divided the money at the
banker's, and she had once rather startled Barry by asking him for his
moiety towards paying the butcher's bill; and his dismay was completed
shortly afterwards by being informed, by a steady old gentleman
in Dunmore, whom he did not like a bit too well, that he had been
appointed by Miss Lynch to manage her business and receive her rents.
As soon as it could be decently done, after his father's burial, Barry
took himself off to Dublin, to consult his friends there as to what he
should do; but he soon returned, determined to put a bold face on it,
and come to some understanding with his sister.
He first proposed to her to go and live in Dublin, but she said she
preferred Dunmore. He then talked of selling the house, and to this she
agreed. He next tried to borrow money for the payment of his debts; on
which she referred him to the steady old man. Though apparently docile
and obedient, she would not put herself in his hands, nor would her
agent allow him to take any unfair advantage of her.
Whilst this was going on, our friend Martin Kelly had set his eye upon
the prize, and, by means of his sister's intimacy with Anty, and his
own good looks, had succeeded in obtaining from her half a promise to
become his wife. Anty had but little innate respect for gentry; and,
though she feared her brother's displeasure, she felt no degradation at
the idea of uniting herself to a man in Martin Kelly's rank. She could
not, however, be brought to tell her brother openly, and declare her
determination; and Martin had, at length, come to the conclusion that
he must carry her off, before delay and unforeseen changes might either
alter her mind, or enable her brother to entice her out of the country.
Thus matters stood at Dunmore when Martin Kelly started for Dublin, and
at the time when he was about to wait on his patron at Morrison's
hotel.
Both Martin and Lord Ballindine (and they were related in some distant
degree, at least so always said the Kellys, and I never knew that the
O'Kellys denied it)--both the young men were, at the time, anxious to
get married, and both with the same somewhat mercenary views; and I
have fatigued the reader with the long history of past affairs, in
order to imbue him, if possible, with some interest in the ways and
means which they both adopted to accomplish their objects.
III. MORRISON'S HOTEL
At about five o'clock on the evening of the day of Sheil's speech, Lord
Ballindine and his friend, Walter Blake, were lounging on different
sofas in a room at Morrison's Hotel, before they went up to dress for
dinner. Walter Blake was an effeminate-looking, slight-made man, about
thirty or thirty-three years of age; good looking, and gentlemanlike,
but presenting quite a contrast in his appearance to his friend Lord
Ballindine. He had a cold quiet grey eye, and a thin lip; and, though
he was in reality a much cleverer, he was a much less engaging man. Yet
Blake could be very amusing; but he rather laughed at people than with
them, and when there were more than two in company, he would usually
be found making a butt of one. Nevertheless, his society was greatly
sought after. On matters connected with racing, his word was
infallible. He rode boldly, and always rode good horses; and, though
he was anything but rich, he managed to keep up a comfortable snuggery
at the Curragh, and to drink the very best claret that Dublin could
procure.
Walter Blake was a finished gambler, and thus it was, that with about
six hundred a year, he managed to live on equal terms with the richest
around him. His father, Laurence Blake of Castleblakeney, in County
Galway, was a very embarrassed man, of good property, strictly
entailed, and, when Walter came of age, he and his father, who could
never be happy in the same house, though possessing in most things
similar tastes, had made such a disposition of the estate, as gave the
father a clear though narrowed income, and enabled the son at once to
start into the world, without waiting for his father's death; though,
by so doing, he greatly lessened the property which he must otherwise
have inherited.
Blake was a thorough gambler, and knew well how to make the most of the
numerous chances which the turf afforded him. He had a large stud of
horses, to the training and working of which he attended almost as
closely as the person whom he paid for doing so. But it was in the
betting-ring that he was most formidable. It was said, in Kildare
Street, that no one at Tattersall's could beat him at a book. He had
latterly been trying a wider field than the Curragh supplied him and
had, on one or two occasions, run a horse in England with such success,
as had placed him, at any rate, quite at the top of the Irish sporting
tree.
He was commonly called "Dot Blake", in consequence of his having told
one of his friends that the cause of his, the friend's, losing so much
money on the turf, was, that he did not mind "the dot and carry on"
part of the business; meaning thereby, that he did not attend to the
necessary calculations. For a short time after giving this piece of
friendly caution, he had been nick-named, "Dot and carry on"; but that
was too long to last, and he had now for some years been known to every
sporting man in Ireland as "Dot" Blake.
This man was at present Lord Ballindine's most intimate friend, and he
could hardly have selected a more dangerous one. They were now going
down together to Handicap Lodge, though there was nothing to be done in
the way of racing for months to come. Yet Blake knew his business too
well to suppose that his presence was necessary only when the horses
were running; and he easily persuaded his friend that it was equally
important that he should go and see that it was all right with the
Derby colt.
They were talking almost in the dark, on these all-absorbing topics,
when the waiter knocked at the door and informed them that a young man
named Kelly wished to see Lord Ballindine.
"Show him up," said Frank. "A tenant of mine, Dot; one of the
respectable few of that cattle, indeed, almost the only one that I've
got; a sort of subagent, and a fifteenth cousin, to boot, I believe.
I am going to put him to the best use I know for such respectable
fellows, and that is, to get him to borrow money for me."
"And he'll charge you twice as much for it, and make three times as
much bother about it, as the fellows in the next street who have your
title-deeds. When I want lawyer's business done, I go to a lawyer; and
when I want to borrow money, I go to my own man of business; he makes
it his business to find money, and he daren't rob me more than is
decent, fitting, and customary, because he has a character to lose."
"Those fellows at Guinness's make such a fuss about everything; and I
don't put my nose into that little back room, but what every word I
say, by some means or other, finds its way down to Grey Abbey."
"Well, Frank, you know your own affairs best; but I don't think you'll
make money by being afraid of your agent; or your wife's guardian, if
she is to be your wife."
"Afraid, man? I'm as much afraid of Lord Cashel as you are. I don't
think I've shown myself much afraid; but I don't choose to make him my
guardian, just when he's ceasing to be hers; nor do I wish, just now,
to break with Grey Abbey altogether."
"Do you mean to go over there from the Curragh next week?"
"I don't think I shall. They don't like me a bit too well, when I've
the smell of the stables on me."
"There it is, again, Frank! What is it to you what Lord Cashel likes?
If you wish to see Miss Wyndham, and if the heavy-pated old Don doesn't
mean to close his doors against you, what business has he to inquire
where you came from? I suppose he doesn't like me a bit too well; but
you're not weak enough to be afraid to say that you've been at Handicap
Lodge?"
"The truth is, Dot, I don't think I'll go to Grey Abbey at all, till
Fanny's of age. She only wants a month of it now; and then I can meet
Lord Cashel in a business way, as one man should meet another."
"I can't for the life of me," said Blake, "make out what it is that has
set that old fellow so strong against horses. He won the Oaks twice
himself, and that not so very long ago; and his own son, Kilcullen, is
deeper a good deal on the turf than I am, and, by a long chalk less
likely to pull through, as I take it. But here's the Connaught man on
the stairs,--I could swear to Galway by the tread of his foot!"--and
Martin knocked at the door, and walked in.
"Well, Kelly," said Lord Ballindine, "how does Dublin agree with you?"
And, "I hope I see your lordship well, my lord?" said Martin.
"How are they all at Dunmore and Kelly's Court?"
"Why thin, they're all well, my lord, except Sim Lynch--and he's dead.
But your lordship'll have heard that."
"What, old Simeon Lynch dead!" said Blake, "well then, there's
promotion. Peter Mahon, that was the agent at Castleblakeney, is now
the biggest rogue alive in Connaught."
"Don't swear to that," said Lord Ballindine. "There's some of Sim's
breed still left at Dunmore. It wouldn't be easy to beat Barry, would
it, Kelly?"
"Why then, I don't know; I wouldn't like to be saying against the
gentleman's friend that he spoke of; and doubtless his honour knows him
well, or he wouldn't say so much of him."
"Indeed I do," said Blake. "I never give a man a good character till I
know he deserves it. Well, Frank, I'll go and dress, and leave you and
Mr. Kelly to your business," and he left the room.
"I'm sorry to hear you speak so hard agin Mr. Barry, my lord," began
Martin. "May-be he mayn't be so bad. Not but that he's a cross-grained
piece of timber to dale with."
"And why should you be sorry I'd speak against him? There's not more
friendship, I suppose, between you and Barry Lynch now, than there used
to be?"
"Why, not exactly frindship, my lord; but I've my rasons why I'd wish
you not to belittle the Lynches. Your lordship might forgive them all,
now the old man's dead."
"Forgive them!--indeed I can, and easily. I don't know I ever did any
of them an injury, except when I thrashed Barry at Eton, for calling
himself the son of a gentleman. But what makes you stick up for them?
You're not going to marry the daughter, are you?"
Martin blushed up to his forehead as his landlord thus hit the nail on
the head; but, as it was dark, his blushes couldn't be seen. So, after
dangling his hat about for a minute, and standing first on one foot,
and then on the other, he took courage, and answered.
"Well, Mr. Frank, that is, your lordship, I mane--I b'lieve I might do
worse."
"Body and soul, man!" exclaimed the other, jumping from his recumbent
position on the sofa, "You don't mean to tell me you're going to marry
Anty Lynch?"
"In course not," answered Martin; "av' your lordship objects."
"Object, man!--How the devil can I object? Why, she's six hundred a
year, hasn't she?"
"About four, my lord, I think's nearest the mark."
"Four hundred a year! And I don't suppose you owe a penny in the
world!"
"Not much unless the last gale [10] to your lordship and we never pay
that till next May."
[FOOTNOTE 10: gale--rent payment. Gale day was the day on which
rent was due.]
"And so you're going to marry Anty Lynch!" again repeated Frank, as
though he couldn't bring himself to realise the idea; "and now, Martin,
tell me all about it,--how the devil you managed it--when it's to come
off--and how you and Barry mean to hit it off together when you're
brothers. I suppose I'll lose a good tenant any way?"
"Not av' I'm a good one, you won't, with my consent, my lord."
"Ah! but it'll be Anty's consent, now, you know. She mayn't like
Toneroe. But tell me all about it. What put it into your head?"
"Why, my lord, you run away so fast; one can't tell you anything. I
didn't say I was going to marry her--at laist, not for certain;--I only
said I might do worse."
"Well then; are you going to marry her, or rather, is she going to
marry you, or is she not?"
"Why, I don't know. I'll tell your lordship just how it is. You know
when old Sim died, my lord?"
"Of course I do. Why, I was at Kelly's Court at the time."
"So you were, my lord; I was forgetting. But you went away again
immediately, and didn't hear how Barry tried to come round his sisther,
when he heard how the will went; and how he tried to break the will and
to chouse her out of the money."
"Why, this is the very man you wouldn't let me call a rogue, a minute
or two ago!"
"Ah, my lord! that was just before sthrangers; besides, it's no use
calling one's own people bad names. Not that he belongs to me yet, and
may-be never will. But, between you and I, he is a rogue, and his
father's son every inch of him."
"Well, Martin, I'll remember. I'll not abuse him when he's your
brother-in-law. But how did you get round the sister?--That's the
question."
"Well, my lord, I'll tell you. You know there was always a kind of
frindship between Anty and the girls at home, and they set her up to
going to old Moylan--he that receives the rents on young Barron's
property, away at Strype. Moylan's uncle to Flaherty, that married
mother's sister. Well, she went to him--he's a kind of office at
Dunmore, my lord."
"Oh, I know him and his office! He knows the value of a name at the
back of a bit of paper, as well as any one."
"May-be he does, my lord; but he's an honest old fellow, is Moylan,
and manages a little for mother."
"Oh, of course he's honest, Martin, because he belongs to you. You
know Barry's to be an honest chap, then."
"And that's what he niver will be the longest day he lives! But,
however, Moylan got her to sign all the papers; and, when Barry
was out, he went and took an inventhory to the house, and made out
everything square and right, and you may be sure Barry'd have to
get up very 'arly before he'd come round him. Well, after a little,
the ould chap came to me one morning, and asked me all manner of
questions--whether I knew Anty Lynch? whether we didn't used to be
great friends? and a lot more. I never minded him much; for though I
and Anty used to speak, and she'd dhrank tay on the sly with us two or
three times before her father's death, I'd never thought much about
her."
"Nor wouldn't now, Martin, eh? if it wasn't for the old man's will."
"In course I wouldn't, my lord. I won't be denying it. But, on the
other hand, I wouldn't marry her now for all her money, av' I didn't
mane to trate her well. Well, my lord, after beating about the bush for
a long time, the ould thief popped it out, and told me that he thought
Anty'd be all the betther for a husband; and that, av' I was wanting
a wife, he b'lieved I might suit myself now. Well, I thought of it
a little, and tould him I'd take the hint. The next day he comes to
me again, all the way down to Toneroe, where I was walking the big
grass-field by myself, and began saying that, as he was Anty's agent,
of course he wouldn't see her wronged. 'Quite right, Mr. Moylan,' says
I; 'and, as I mane to be her husband, I won't see her wronged neither.'
'Ah! but,' says he, 'I mane that I must see her property properly
settled.' 'Why not?' says I, 'and isn't the best way for her to marry?
and then, you know, no one can schame her out of it. There's lots of
them schamers about now,' says I. 'That's thrue for you,' says he,
'and they're not far to look for,'--and that was thrue, too, my lord,
for he and I were both schaming about poor Anty's money at that moment.
'Well,' says he, afther walking on a little, quite quiet, 'av' you war
to marry her.'--'Oh, I've made up my mind about that, Mr. Moylan,' says
I. 'Well, av' it should come to pass that you do marry her--of course
you'd expect to have the money settled on herself?' 'In course I would,
when I die,' says I. 'No, but,' says he, 'at once: wouldn't it be
enough for you to have a warm roof over your head, and a leg of mutton
on the table every day, and no work to do for it?' and so, my lord, it
came out that the money was to be settled on herself, and that he was
to be her agent."
"Well, Martin, after that, I think you needn't go to Sim Lynch, or
Barry, for the biggest rogues in Connaught--to be settling the poor
girl's money between you that way!"
"Well, but listen, my lord. I gave in to the ould man; that is, I made
no objection to his schame. But I was determined, av' I ever did marry
Anty Lynch, that I would be agent and owner too, myself, as long as I
lived; though in course it was but right that they should settle it so
that av' I died first, the poor crature shouldn't be out of her money.
But I didn't let on to him about all that; for, av' he was angered, the
ould fool might perhaps spoil the game; and I knew av' Anty married me
at all, it'd be for liking; and av' iver I got on the soft side of her,
I'd soon be able to manage matthers as I plazed, and ould Moylan'd soon
find his best game'd be to go asy."
"Upon my soul, Martin, I think you seem to have been the sharpest rogue
of the two! Is there an honest man in Connaught at all, I wonder?"
"I can't say rightly, just at present, my lord; but there'll be two,
plaze God, when I and your lordship are there."
"Thank ye, Kelly, for the compliment, and especially for the good
company. But let me hear how on earth you ever got face enough to go up
and ask Anty Lynch to marry you."
"Oh!--a little soft sawther did it! I wasn't long in putting my
com'ether on her when I once began. Well, my lord, from that day
out--from afther Moylan's visit, you know--I began really to think of
it. I'm sure the ould robber meant to have asked for a wapping sum of
money down, for his good will in the bargain; but when he saw me he got
afeard."
"He was another honest man, just now!"
"Only among sthrangers, my lord. I b'lieve he's a far-off cousin of
your own, and I wouldn't like to spake ill of the blood."
"God forbid! But go on, Kelly."
"Well, so, from that out, I began to think of it in arnest. The Lord
forgive me! but my first thoughts was how I'd like to pull down Barry
Lynch; and my second that I'd not demane myself by marrying the sisther
of such an out-and-out ruffian, and that it wouldn't become me to live
on the money that'd been got by chating your lordship's grandfather."
"My lordship's grandfather ought to have looked after that himself. If
those are all your scruples they needn't stick in your throat much."
"I said as much as that to myself, too. So I soon went to work. I was
rather shy about it at first; but the girls helped me. They put it into
her head, I think, before I mentioned it at all. However, by degrees, I
asked her plump, whether she'd any mind to be Mrs. Kelly? and, though
she didn't say 'yes,' she didn't say 'no.'"
"But how the devil, man, did you manage to get at her? I'm told Barry
watches her like a dragon, ever since he read his father's will."
"He couldn't watch her so close, but what she could make her way down
to mother's shop now and again. Or, for the matter of that, but what I
could make my way up to the house."
"That's true, for what need she mind Barry, now? She may marry whom
she pleases, and needn't tell him, unless she likes, until the priest
has his book ready."
"Ah, my lord! but there's the rub. She is afraid of Barry; and though
she didn't say so, she won't agree to tell him, or to let me tell him,
or just to let the priest walk into the house without telling him.
She's fond of Barry, though, for the life of me, I can't see what there
is in him for anybody to be fond of. He and his father led her the
divil's own life mewed up there, because she wouldn't be a nun. But
still is both fond and afraid of him; and, though I don't think she'll
marry anybody else--at laist not yet awhile, I don't think she'll ever
get courage to marry me--at any rate, not in the ordinary way."
"Why then, Martin, you must do something extraordinary, I suppose."
"That's just it, my lord; and what I wanted was, to ask your
lordship's advice and sanction, like."
"Sanction! Why I shouldn't think you'd want anybody's sanction for
marrying a wife with four hundred a-year. But, if that's anything to
you, I can assure you I approve of it."
"Thank you, my lord. That's kind."
"To tell the truth," continued Lord Ballindine, "I've a little of your
own first feeling. I'd be glad of it, if it were only for the rise it
would take out of my schoolfellow, Barry. Not but that I think you're a
deal too good to be his brother-in-law. And you know, Kelly, or ought
to know, that I'd be heartily glad of anything for your own welfare.
So, I'd advise you to hammer away while the iron's hot, as the saying
is."
"That's just what I'm coming to. What'd your lordship advise me to do?"
"Advise you? Why, you must know best yourself how the matter stands.
Talk her over, and make her tell Barry."
"Divil a tell, my lord, in her. She wouldn't do it in a month of
Sundays."
"Then do you tell him, at once. I suppose you're not afraid of him?"
"She'd niver come to the scratch, av' I did. He'd bully the life out of
her, or get her out of the counthry some way."
"Then wait till his back's turned for a month or so. When he's out,
let the priest walk in, and do the matter quietly that way."
"Well, I thought of that myself, my lord; but he's as wary as a
weazel, and I'm afeard he smells something in the wind. There's that
blackguard Moylan, too, he'd be telling Barry--and would, when he came
to find things weren't to be settled as he intended."
"Then you must carry her off, and marry her up here, or in Galway or
down in Connemara, or over at Liverpool, or any where you please."
"Now you've hit it, my lord. That's just what I'm thinking myself.
Unless I take her off Gretna Green fashion, I'll never get her."
"Then why do you want my advice, if you've made up your mind to that? I
think you're quite right; and what's more, I think you ought to lose
no time in doing it. Will she go, do you think?"
"Why, with a little talking, I think she will."
"Then what are you losing your time for, man? Hurry down, and off with
her! I think Dublin's probably your best ground."
"Then you think, my lord, I'd betther do it at once?"
"Of course, I do! What is there to delay you?"
"Why, you see, my lord, the poor girl's as good as got no friends, and
I wouldn't like it to be thought in the counthry, I'd taken her at a
disadvantage. It's thrue enough in one way, I'm marrying her for the
money; that is, in course, I wouldn't marry her without it. And I tould
her, out open, before her face, and before the girls, that, av' she'd
ten times as much, I wouldn't marry her unless I was to be masther, as
long as I lived, of everything in my own house, like another man; and I
think she liked me the betther for it. But, for all that, I wouldn't
like to catch her up without having something fair done by the
property."
"The lawyers, Martin, can manage that, afterwards. When she's once Mrs
Kelly, you can do what you like about the fortune."
"That's thrue, my lord. But I wouldn't like the bad name I'd get
through the counthry av' I whisked her off without letting her settle
anything. They'd be saying I robbed her, whether I did or no: and when
a thing's once said, it's difficult to unsay it. The like of me, my
lord, can't do things like you noblemen and gentry. Besides, mother'd
never forgive me. They think, down there, that poor Anty's simple
like; tho' she's cute enough, av' they knew her. I wouldn't, for all
the money, wish it should be said that Martin Kelly ran off with a
fool, and robbed her. Barry 'd be making her out a dale more simple
than she is; and, altogether, my lord, I wouldn't like it."
"Well, Martin, perhaps you're right. At any rate you're on the right
side. What is it then you think of doing?"
"Why, I was thinking, my lord, av' I could get some lawyer here to draw
up a deed, just settling all Anty's property on herself when I die, and
on her children, av' she has any,--so that I couldn't spend it you
know; she could sign it, and so could I, before we started; and then
I'd feel she'd been traited as well as tho' she'd all the friends in
Connaught to her back."
"And a great deal better, probably. Well, Martin, I'm no lawyer, but I
should think there'd not be much difficulty about that. Any attorney
could do it."
"But I'd look so quare, my lord, walking into a sthranger's room and
explaining what I wanted--all about the running away and everything. To
be sure there's my brother John's people; they're attorneys; but it's
about robberies, and hanging, and such things they're most engaged; and
I was thinking, av' your lordship wouldn't think it too much throuble
to give me a line to your own people; or, may-be, you'd say a word to
them explaining what I want. It'd be the greatest favour in life."
"I'll tell you what I'll do, Kelly. I'll go with you, to-morrow, to Mr
Blake's lawyers--that's my friend that was sitting here--and I've no
doubt we'll get the matter settled. The Guinnesses, you know, do all my
business, and they're not lawyers."
"Long life to your lordship, and that's just like yourself! I knew
you'd stick by me. And shall I call on you to-morrow, my lord? and at
what time?"
"Wait! here's Mr Blake. I'll ask him, and you might as well meet me
there. Grey and Forrest's the name; it's in Clare Street, I think."
Here Mr Blake again entered the room.
"What!" said he; "isn't your business over yet, Ballindine? I suppose
I'm _de trop_ then. Only mind, dinner's ordered for half past six, and
it's that now, and you're not dressed yet!"
"You're not _de trop_, and I was just wanting you. We're all friends
here, Kelly, you know; and you needn't mind my telling Mr Blake. Here's
this fellow going to elope with an heiress from Connaught, and he
wants a decently honest lawyer first."
"I should have thought," said Blake, "that an indecently dishonest
clergyman would have suited him better under those circumstances."
"May-be he'll want that, too, and I've no doubt you can recommend one.
But at present he wants a lawyer; and, as I have none of my own, I
think Forrest would serve his turn."
"I've always found Mr Forrest ready to do anything in the way of his
profession--for money."
"No, but--he'd draw up a deed, wouldn't he, Blake? It's a sort of a
marriage settlement."
"Oh, he's quite at home at that work! He drew up five, for my five
sisters, and thereby ruined my father's property, and my prospects."
"Well, he'd see me to-morrow, wouldn't he?" said Lord Ballindine.
"Of course he would. But mind, we're to be off early. We ought to be at
the Curragh, by three."
"I suppose I could see him at ten?" said his lordship.
It was then settled that Blake should write a line to the lawyer,
informing him that Lord Ballindine wished to see him, at his office,
at ten o'clock the next morning; it was also agreed that Martin should
meet him there at that hour; and Kelly took his leave, much relieved on
the subject nearest his heart.
"Well, Frank," said Blake, as soon as the door was closed, "and have
you got the money you wanted?"
"Indeed I've not, then."
"And why not? If your protégé is going to elope with an heiress, he
ought to have money at command."
"And so he will, and it'll be a great temptation to me to know where I
can get it so easily. But he was telling me all about this woman before
I thought of my own concerns--and I didn't like to be talking to him of
what I wanted myself, when he'd been asking a favour of me. It would be
too much like looking for payment."
"There, you're wrong; fair barter is the truest and honestest system,
all the world over.--'Ca me, ca thee,' as the Scotch call it, is the
best system to go by. I never do, or ask, _a favour_; that is, for
whatever I do, I expect a return; and for whatever I get, I intend to
make one."
"I'll get the money from Guinness. After all, that'll be the best, and
as you say, the cheapest."
"There you're right. His business is to lend money, and he'll lend it
you as long as you've means to repay it; and I'm sure no Connaught man
will do more--that is, if I know them."
"I suppose he will, but heaven only knows how long that'll be!" and the
young lord threw himself back on the sofa, as if he thought a little
meditation would do him good. However, very little seemed to do for
him, for he soon roused himself, and said, "I wonder how the devil,
Dot, you do without borrowing? My income's larger than yours, bad as
it is; I've only three horses in training, and you've, I suppose, above
a dozen; and, take the year through, I don't entertain half the fellows
at Kelly's Court that you do at Handicap Lodge; and yet, I never hear
of your borrowing money."
"There's many reasons for that. In the first place, I haven't an
estate; in the second, I haven't a mother; in the third, I haven't a
pack of hounds; in the fourth, I haven't a title; and, in the fifth,
no one would lend me money, if I asked it."
"As for the estate, it's devilish little I spend on it; as for my
mother, she has her own jointure; as for the hounds, they eat my own
potatoes; and as for the title, I don't support it. But I haven't your
luck, Dot. You'd never want for money, though the mint broke."
"Very likely I mayn't when it does; but I'm likely to be poor enough
till that happy accident occurs. But, as far as luck goes, you've had
more than me; you won nearly as much, in stakes, as I did, last autumn,
and your stable expenses weren't much above a quarter what mine were.
But, the truth is, I manage better; I know where my money goes to,
and you don't; I work hard, and you don't; I spend my money on what's
necessary to my style of living, you spend yours on what's not
necessary. What the deuce have the fellows in Mayo and Roscommon done
for you, that you should mount two or three rascals, twice a-week,
to show them sport, when you're not there yourself two months in the
season? I suppose you don't keep the horses and men for nothing, if you
do the dogs; and I much doubt whether they're not the dearest part of
the bargain."
"Of course they cost something; but it's the only thing I can do for
the country; and there were always hounds at Kelly's Court till my
grandfather got the property, and they looked upon him as no better
than an old woman, because he gave them up. Besides, I suppose I shall
be living at Kelly's Court soon, altogether, and I could never get on
then without hounds. It's bad enough, as it is."
"I haven't a doubt in the world it's bad enough. I know what
Castleblakeney is. But I doubt your living there. I've no doubt you'll
try; that is, if you _do_ marry Miss Wyndham; but she'll be sick of
it in three months, and you in six, and you'll go and live at Paris,
Florence, or Naples, and there'll be another end of the O'Kellys, for
thirty or forty years, as far as Ireland's concerned. You'll never do
for a poor country lord; you're not sufficiently proud, or stingy.
You'd do very well as a country gentleman, and you'd make a decent
nobleman with such a fortune as Lord Cashel's. But your game, if you
lived on your own property, would be a very difficult one, and one for
which you've neither tact nor temper."
"Well, I hope I'll never live out of Ireland. Though I mayn't have tact
to make one thousand go as far as five, I've sense enough to see that
a poor absentee landlord is a great curse to his country; and that's
what I hope I never shall be."
"My dear Lord Ballindine; all poor men are curses, to themselves or
some one else."
"A poor absentee's the worst of all. He leaves nothing behind, and can
leave nothing. He wants all he has for himself; and, if he doesn't give
his neighbours the profit which must arise somewhere, from his own
consumption, he can give nothing. A rich man can afford to leave three
or four thousand a year behind him, in the way of wages for labour."
"My gracious, Frank! You should put all that in a pamphlet, and not
inflict it on a poor devil waiting for his dinner. At present, give
your profit to Morrison, and come and consume some mock-turtle; and
I'll tell you what Sheil's going to do for us all."
Lord Ballindine did as he was bid, and left the room to prepare for
dinner. By the time that he had eaten his soup, and drank a glass of
wine, he had got rid of the fit of blue devils which the thoughts
of his poverty had brought on, and he spent the rest of the evening
comfortably enough, listening to his friend's comical version of
Shell's speech; receiving instruction from that great master of the art
as to the manner in which he should treat his Derby colt, and being
flattered into the belief that he would be a prominent favourite for
that great race.
When they had finished their wine, they sauntered into the Kildare
Street Club.
Blake was soon busy with his little betting-book, and Lord Ballindine
followed his example. Brien Boru was, before long, in great demand.
Blake took fifty to one, and then talked the horse up till he ended by
giving twenty-five. He was soon ranked the first of the Irish lot; and
the success of the Hibernians had made them very sanguine of late. Lord
Ballindine found himself the centre of a little sporting circle, as
being the man with the crack nag of the day. He was talked of, courted,
and appealed to; and, I regret to say, that before he left the club
he was again nearly forgetting Kelly's Court and Miss Wyndham, had
altogether got rid of his patriotic notions as to the propriety of
living on his own estate, had determined forthwith to send Brien Boru
over to Scott's English stables; and then, went to bed, and dreamed
that he was a winner of the Derby, and was preparing for the glories of
Newmarket with five or six thousand pounds in his pocket.
Martin Kelly dined with his brother at Jude's, and spent his evening
equally unreasonably; at least, it may be supposed so from the fact
that at one o'clock in the morning he was to be seen standing on one of
the tables at Burton Bindon's oyster-house, with a pewter pot, full of
porter, in his hand, and insisting that every one in the room should
drink the health of Anty Lynch, whom, on that occasion, he swore to be
the prettiest and the youngest girl in Connaught.
It was lucky he was so intoxicated, that no one could understand him;
and that his hearers were so drunk that they could understand nothing;
as, otherwise, the publicity of his admiration might have had the
effect of preventing the accomplishment of his design.
He managed, however, to meet his patron the next morning at the
lawyer's, though his eyes were very red, and his cheeks pale; and,
after being there for some half hour, left the office, with the
assurance that, whenever he and the lady might please to call there,
they should find a deed prepared for their signature, which would
adjust the property in the manner required.
That afternoon Lord Ballindine left Dublin, with his friend, to make
instant arrangements for the exportation of Brien Boru; and, at two
o'clock the next day, Martin left, by the boat, for Ballinaslie, having
evinced his patriotism by paying a year's subscription in advance to
the "Nation" newspaper, and with his mind fully made up to bring Anty
away to Dublin with as little delay as possible.
IV. THE DUNMORE INN
Anty Lynch was not the prettiest, or the youngest girl in Connaught;
nor would Martin have affirmed her to be so, unless he had been very
much inebriated indeed. However young she might have been once, she was
never pretty; but, in all Ireland, there was not a more single-hearted,
simple-minded young woman. I do not use the word simple as foolish;
for, though uneducated, she was not foolish. But she was unaffected,
honest, humble, and true, entertaining a very lowly idea of her own
value, and unelated by her newly acquired wealth.
She had been so little thought of all her life by others, that she
had never learned to think much of herself; she had had but few
acquaintances, and no friends, and had spent her life, hitherto,
so quietly and silently, that her apparent apathy was attributable
rather to want of subjects of excitement, than to any sluggishness of
disposition. Her mother had died early; and, since then, the only case
in which Anty had been called on to exercise her own judgment, was in
refusing to comply with her father's wish that she should become a
nun. On this subject, though often pressed, she had remained positive,
always pleading that she felt no call to the sacred duties which would
be required, and innocently assuring her father, that, if allowed to
remain at home, she would cause him no trouble, and but little expense.
So she had remained at home, and had inured herself to bear without
grumbling, or thinking that she had cause for grumbling, the petulance
of her father, and the more cruel harshness and ill-humour of her
brother. In all the family schemes of aggrandisement she had been set
aside, and Barry had been intended by the father as the scion on whom
all the family honours were to fall. His education had been expensive,
his allowance liberal, and his whims permitted; while Anty was never
better dressed than a decent English servant, and had been taught
nothing save the lessons she had learnt from her mother, who died when
she was but thirteen.
Mrs Lynch had died before the commencement of Sim's palmy days. They
had seen no company in her time,--for they were then only rising
people; and, since that, the great friends to whom Sim, in his wealth,
had attached himself, and with whom alone he intended that Barry
should associate, were all of the masculine gender. He gave bachelor
dinner-parties to hard-drinking young men, for whom Anty was well
contented to cook; and when they--as they often, from the effect of
their potations, were perforce obliged to do--stayed the night at
Dunmore House, Anty never showed herself in the breakfast parlour,
but boiled the eggs, made the tea, and took her own breakfast in the
kitchen.
It was not wonderful, therefore, that no one proposed for Anty; and,
though all who knew the Lynches, knew that Sim had a daughter, it was
very generally given out that she was not so wise as her neighbours;
and the father and brother took no pains to deny the rumour. The
inhabitants of the village knew better; the Lynches were very generally
disliked, and the shameful way "Miss Anty was trated," was often
discussed in the little shops; and many of the townspeople were ready
to aver that, "simple or no, Anty Lynch was the best of the breed,
out-and-out."
Matters stood thus at Dunmore, when the quarrel before alluded to,
occurred, and when Sim made his will, dividing his property and died
before destroying it, as he doubtless would have done, when his passion
was over.
Great was the surprise of every one concerned, and of many who were
not at all concerned, when it was ascertained that Anty Lynch was an
heiress, and that she was now possessed of four hundred pounds
a-year in her own right; but the passion of her brother, it would
be impossible to describe. He soon, however, found that it was too
literally true, and that no direct means were at hand, by which he
could deprive his sister of her patrimony. The lawyer, when he informed
Anty of her fortune and present station, made her understand that she
had an equal right with her brother in everything in the house; and
though, at first, she tacitly acquiesced in his management, she was not
at all simple enough to be ignorant of the rights of possession, or
weak enough to relinquish them.
Barry soon made up his mind that, as she had and must have the
property, all he could now do was to take care that it should revert to
him as her heir; and the measure of most importance in effecting this,
would be to take care that she did not marry. In his first passion,
after his father's death, he had been rough and cruel to her; but he
soon changed his conduct, and endeavoured to flatter her into docility
at one moment, and to frighten her into obedience in the next.
He soon received another blow which was also a severe one. Moylan, the
old man who proposed the match to Martin, called on him, and showed him
that Anty had appointed him her agent, and had executed the necessary
legal documents for the purpose. Upon this subject he argued for a
long time with his sister,--pointing out to her that the old man would
surely rob her--offering to act as her agent himself--recommending
others as more honest and fitting--and, lastly, telling her that she
was an obstinate fool, who would soon be robbed of every penny she had,
and that she would die in a workhouse at last.
But Anty, though she dreaded her brother, was firm. Wonderful as it
may appear, she even loved him. She begged him not to quarrel with
her,--promised to do everything to oblige him, and answered his wrath
with gentleness; but it was of no avail. Barry knew that her agent was
a plotter--that he would plot against his influence--though he little
guessed then what would be the first step Moylan would take, or how
likely it would be, if really acted on, to lead to his sister's comfort
and happiness. After this, Barry passed two months of great misery and
vexation. He could not make up his mind what to do, or what final steps
to take, either about the property, his sister, or himself. At first,
he thought of frightening Moylan and his sister, by pretending that
he would prove Anty to be of weak mind, and not fit to manage her own
affairs, and that he would indict the old man for conspiracy; but he
felt that Moylan was not a man to be frightened by such bugbears. Then,
he made up his mind to turn all he had into money, to leave his sister
to the dogs, or any one who might choose to rob her, and go and live
abroad. Then he thought, if his sister should die, what a pity it would
be, he should lose it all, and how he should blame himself, if she were
to die soon after having married some low adventurer; and he reflected;
how probable such a thing would be--how likely that such a man would
soon get rid of her; and then his mind began to dwell on her death,
and to wish for it. He found himself constantly thinking of it, and
ruminating on it, and determining that it was the only event which
could set him right. His own debts would swallow up half his present
property; and how could he bring himself to live on the pitiful
remainder, when that stupid idiot, as he called her to himself, had
three times more than she could possibly want? Morning after morning,
he walked about the small grounds round the house, with his hat over
his eyes, and his hands tossing about the money in his pockets,
thinking of this,--cursing his father, and longing--almost praying for
his sister's death. Then he would have his horse, and flog the poor
beast along the roads without going anywhere, or having any object in
view, but always turning the same thing over and over in his mind.
And, after dinner, he would sit, by the hour, over the fire, drinking,
longing for his sister's money, and calculating the probabilities of
his ever possessing it. He began to imagine all the circumstances which
might lead to her death; he thought of all the ways in which persons
situated as she was, might, and often did, die. He reflected, without
knowing that he was doing so, on the probability of robbers breaking
into the house, if she were left alone in it, and of their murdering
her; he thought of silly women setting their own clothes on fire--of
their falling out of window--drowning themselves--of their perishing
in a hundred possible but improbable ways. It was after he had been
drinking a while, that these ideas became most vivid before his eyes,
and seemed like golden dreams, the accomplishment of which he could
hardly wish for. And, at last, as the fumes of the spirit gave him
courage, other and more horrible images would rise to his imagination,
and the drops of sweat would stand on his brow as he would invent
schemes by which, were he so inclined, he could accelerate, without
detection, the event for which he so ardently longed. With such
thoughts would he turn into bed; and though in the morning he would try
to dispel the ideas in which he had indulged overnight, they still left
their impression on his mind;--they added bitterness to his hatred--and
made him look on himself as a man injured by his father and sister, and
think that he owed it to himself to redress his injuries by some
extraordinary means.
It was whilst Barry Lynch was giving way to such thoughts as these, and
vainly endeavouring to make up his mind as to what he would do, that
Martin made his offer to Anty. To tell the truth, it was Martin's
sister Meg who had made the first overture; and, as Anty had not
rejected it with any great disdain, but had rather shown a disposition
to talk about it as a thing just possible, Martin had repeated it in
person, and had reiterated it, till Anty had at last taught herself to
look upon it as a likely and desirable circumstance. Martin had behaved
openly and honourably with regard to the money part of the business;
telling his contemplated bride that it was, of course, her fortune
which had first induced him to think of her; but adding, that he would
also value her and love her for herself, if she would allow him. He
described to her the sort of settlement he should propose, and ended by
recommending an early day for the wedding.
Anty had sense enough to be pleased at his straightforward and honest
manner; and, though she did not say much to himself, she said a great
deal in his praise to Meg, which all found its way to Martin's ears.
But still, he could not get over the difficulty which he had described
to Lord Ballindine. Anty wanted to wait till her brother should go out
of the country, and Martin was afraid that he would not go; and things
were in this state when he started for Dublin.
The village of Dunmore has nothing about it which can especially
recommend it to the reader. It has none of those beauties of nature
which have taught Irishmen to consider their country as the "first
flower of the earth, and first gem of the sea". It is a dirty, ragged
little town, standing in a very poor part of the country, with nothing
about it to induce the traveller to go out of his beaten track. It is
on no high road, and is blessed with no adventitious circumstances to
add to its prosperity.
It was once the property of the O'Kellys; but, in those times the
landed proprietors thought but little of the towns; and now it is
parcelled out among different owners, some of whom would think it folly
to throw away a penny on the place, and others of whom have not a penny
to throw away. It consists of a big street, two little streets, and a
few very little lanes. There is a Court-house, where the barrister sits
twice a year; a Barrack, once inhabited by soldiers, but now given up
to the police; a large slated chapel, not quite finished; a few shops
for soft goods; half a dozen shebeen-houses [11], ruined by Father
Mathew; a score of dirty cabins offering "lodging and enthertainment",
as announced on the window-shutters; Mrs. Kelly's inn and grocery-shop;
and, last though not least, Simeon Lynch's new, staring house, built
just at the edge of the town, on the road to Roscommon, which is
dignified with the name of Dunmore House. The people of most influence
in the village were Mrs. Kelly of the inn, and her two sworn friends,
the parish priest and his curate. The former, Father Geoghegan, lived
about three miles out of Dunmore, near Toneroe; and his curate, Father
Pat Connel, inhabited one of the small houses in the place, very little
better in appearance than those which offered accommodation to
travellers and trampers.
[FOOTNOTE 11: shebeen-houses--unlicensed drinking houses, where
un-taxed ("moonshine") liquor was often served]
Such was, and is, the town of Dunmore in the county of Galway; and I
must beg the reader to presume himself to be present there with me on
the morning on which the two young Kellys went to hear Sheil's speech.
At about ten o'clock, the widow Kelly and her daughters were busy in
the shop, which occupied the most important part of the ground-floor
of the inn. It was a long, scrambling, ugly-looking house. Next to the
shop, and opening out of it, was a large drinking-room, furnished with
narrow benches and rickety tables; and here the more humble of Mrs.
Kelly's guests regaled themselves. On the other side of this, was the
hall, or passage of the house; and, next to that again, a large, dingy,
dark kitchen, over which Sally reigned with her teapot dynasty, and in
which were always congregated a parcel of ragged old men, boys, and
noisy women, pretending to be busy, but usually doing but little good,
and attracted by the warmth of the big fire, and the hopes of some
scraps of food and drink.
"For the widow Kelly--God bless her! was a thrue Christhian, and didn't
begrudge the poor--more power to her--like some upstarts who might live
to be in want yet, glory be to the Almighty!"
The difference of the English and Irish character is nowhere more
plainly discerned than in their respective kitchens. With the former,
this apartment is probably the cleanest, and certainly the most
orderly, in the house. It is rarely intruded into by those unconnected,
in some way, with its business. Everything it contains is under
the vigilant eye of its chief occupant, who would imagine it quite
impossible to carry on her business, whether of an humble or
important nature, if her apparatus was subjected to the hands of the
unauthorised. An Irish kitchen is devoted to hospitality in every sense
of the word. Its doors are open to almost all loungers and idlers; and
the chances are that Billy Bawn, the cripple, or Judy Molloy, the deaf
old hag, are more likely to know where to find the required utensil
than the cook herself. It is usually a temple dedicated to the goddess
of disorder; and, too often joined with her, is the potent deity of
dirt. It is not that things are out of their place, for they have no
place. It isn't that the floor is not scoured, for you cannot scour dry
mud into anything but wet mud. It isn't that the chairs and tables look
filthy, for there are none. It isn't that the pots, and plates, and
pans don't shine, for you see none to shine. All you see is a grimy,
black ceiling, an uneven clay floor, a small darkened window, one or
two unearthly-looking recesses, a heap of potatoes in the corner, a
pile of turf against the wall, two pigs and a dog under the single
dresser, three or four chickens on the window-sill, an old cock
moaning on the top of a rickety press, and a crowd of ragged garments,
squatting, standing, kneeling, and crouching, round the fire, from
which issues a babel of strange tongues, not one word of which is at
first intelligible to ears unaccustomed to such eloquence.
And yet, out of these unfathomable, unintelligible dens, proceed in due
time dinners, of which the appearance of them gives no promise. Such a
kitchen was Mrs. Kelly's; and yet, it was well known and attested by
those who had often tried the experiment, that a man need think it no
misfortune to have to get his dinner, his punch, and his bed, at the
widow's.
Above stairs were two sitting-rooms and a colony of bed-rooms, occupied
indiscriminately by the family, or by such customers as might require
them. If you came back to dine at the inn, after a day's shooting on
the bogs, you would probably find Miss Jane's work-box on the table, or
Miss Meg's album on the sofa; and, when a little accustomed to sojourn
at such places, you would feel no surprise at discovering their
dresses turned inside out, and hanging on the pegs in your bed-room;
or at seeing their side-combs and black pins in the drawer of your
dressing-table.
On the morning in question, the widow and her daughters were engaged
in the shop, putting up pen'norths of sugar, cutting bits of tobacco,
tying bundles of dip candles, attending to chance customers, and
preparing for the more busy hours of the day. It was evident that
something had occurred at the inn, which had ruffled the even tenor of
its way. The widow was peculiarly gloomy. Though fond of her children,
she was an autocrat in her house, and accustomed, as autocrats usually
are, to scold a good deal; and now she was using her tongue pretty
freely. It wasn't the girls, however, she was rating, for they could
answer for themselves;--and did, when they thought it necessary. But
now, they were demure, conscious, and quiet. Mrs. Kelly was denouncing
one of the reputed sins of the province to which she belonged, and
describing the horrors of "schaming."
"Them underhand ways," she declared, "niver come to no good. Av' it's
thrue what Father Connel's afther telling me, there'll harum come of
it before it's done and over. Schaming, schaming, and schaming for
iver! The back of my hand to such doings! I wish the tongue had been
out of Moylan's mouth, the ould rogue, before he put the thing in his
head. Av' he wanted the young woman, and she was willing, why not
take her in a dacent way, and have done with it. I'm sure she's ould
enough. But what does he want with a wife like her?--making innimies
for himself. I suppose he'll be sitting up for a gentleman now--bad
cess to them for gentry; not but that he's as good a right as some,
and a dale more than others, who are ashamed to put their hand to a
turn of work. I hate such huggery muggery work up in a corner. It's
half your own doing; and a nice piece of work it'll be, when he's got
an ould wife and a dozen lawsuits!--when he finds his farm gone, and
his pockets empty; for it'll be a dale asier for him to be getting the
wife than the money--when he's got every body's abuse, and nothing
else, by his bargain!"
It was very apparent that Martin's secret had not been well kept, and
that the fact of his intended marriage with Anty Lynch was soon likely
to be known to all Dunmore. The truth was, that Moylan had begun to
think himself overreached in the matter--to be afraid that, by the very
measure he had himself proposed, he would lose all share in the great
prize he had put in Martin's way, and that he should himself be the
means of excluding his own finger from the pie. It appeared to him that
if he allowed this, his own folly would only be equalled by the young
man's ingratitude; and he determined therefore, if possible, to prevent
the match. Whereupon he told the matter as a secret, to those whom he
knew would set it moving. In a very short space of time it reached the
ears of Father Connel; and he lost none in stepping down to learn the
truth of so important a piece of luck to one of his parishioners, and
to congratulate the widow. Here, however, he was out in his reckoning,
for she declared she did not believe it,--that it wasn't, and couldn't
be true; and it was only after his departure that she succeeded in
extracting the truth from her daughters.
The news, however, quickly reached the kitchen and its lazy crowd; and
the inn door and its constant loungers; and was readily and gladly
credited in both places.
Crone after crone, and cripple after cripple, hurried into the shop, to
congratulate the angry widow on "masther Martin's luck; and warn't he
worthy of it, the handsome jewel--and wouldn't he look the gintleman,
every inch of him?" and Sally expatiated greatly on it in the kitchen,
and drank both their healths in an extra pot of tea, and Kate grinned
her delight, and Jack the ostler, who took care of Martin's horse,
boasted loudly of it in the street, declaring that "it was a good thing
enough for Anty Lynch, with all her money, to get a husband at all out
of the Kellys, for the divil a know any one knowed in the counthry
where the Lynchs come from; but every one knowed who the Kellys
wor--and Martin wasn't that far from the lord himself."
There was great commotion, during the whole day, at the inn. Some said
Martin had gone to town to buy furniture; others, that he had done so
to prove the will. One suggested that he'd surely have to fight Barry,
and another prayed that "if he did, he might kill the blackguard, and
have all the fortin to himself, out and out, God bless him!"
V. A LOVING BROTHER
The great news was not long before it reached the ears of one not
disposed to receive the information with much satisfaction, and this
was Barry Lynch, the proposed bride's amiable brother. The medium
through which he first heard it was not one likely to add to his good
humour. Jacky, the fool, had for many years been attached to the
Kelly's Court family; that is to say, he had attached himself to it, by
getting his food in the kitchen, and calling himself the lord's fool.
But, latterly, he had quarrelled with Kelly's Court, and had insisted
on being Sim Lynch's fool, much to the chagrin of that old man; and,
since his death, he had nearly maddened Barry by following him through
the street, and being continually found at the house-door when he went
out. Jack's attendance was certainly dictated by affection rather than
any mercenary views, for he never got a scrap out of the Dunmore House
kitchen, or a halfpenny from his new patron. But still, he was Barry's
fool; and, like other fools, a desperate annoyance to his master.
On the day in question, as young Mr. Lynch was riding out of the gate,
about three in the afternoon, there, as usual, was Jack.
"Now yer honour, Mr. Barry, darling, shure you won't forget Jacky
to-day. You'll not forget your own fool, Mr. Barry?"
Barry did not condescend to answer this customary appeal, but only
looked at the poor ragged fellow as though he'd like to flog the life
out of him.
"Shure your honour, Mr. Barry, isn't this the time then to open yer
honour's hand, when Miss Anty, God bless her, is afther making sich a
great match for the family?--Glory be to God!"
"What d'ye mean, you ruffian?"
"Isn't the Kellys great people intirely, Mr. Barry? and won't it be a
great thing for Miss Anty, to be sib to a lord? Shure yer honour'd not
be refusing me this blessed day."
"What the d---- are you saying about Miss Lynch?" said Barry, his
attention somewhat arrested by the mention of his sister's name.
"Isn't she going to be married then, to the dacentest fellow in
Dunmore? Martin Kelly, God bless him! Ah! there'll be fine times at
Dunmore, then. He's not the boy to rattle a poor divil out of the
kitchen into the cold winther night! The Kellys was always the right
sort for the poor."
Barry was frightened in earnest, now. It struck him at once that Jack
couldn't have made the story out of his own head; and the idea that
there was any truth in it, nearly knocked him off his horse. He rode
on, however, trying to appear to be regardless of what had been said to
him; and, as he trotted off, he heard the fool's parting salutation.
"And will yer honour be forgething me afther the news I've brought yer?
Well, hard as ye are, Misther Barry, I've hot yer now, any way."
And, in truth, Jack had hit him hard. Of all things that could happen
to him, this would be about the worst. He had often thought, with
dread, of his sister's marrying, and of his thus being forced to divide
everything--all his spoil, with some confounded stranger. But for her
to marry a shopkeeper's son, in the very village in which he lived, was
more than he could bear. He could never hold up his head in the county
again. And then, he thought of his debts, and tried to calculate
whether he might get over to France without paying them, and be able to
carry his share of the property with him; and so he went on, pursuing
his wretched, uneasy, solitary ride, sometimes sauntering along at a
snail's pace, and then again spurring the poor brute, and endeavouring
to bring his mind to some settled plan. But, whenever he did so, the
idea of his sister's death was the only one which seemed to present
either comfort or happiness.
He made up his mind, at last, to put a bold face on the matter; to find
out from Anty herself whether there was any truth in the story; and,
if there should be,--for he felt confident she would not be able to
deceive him,--to frighten her and the whole party of the Kellys out of
what he considered a damnable conspiracy to rob him of his father's
property,
He got off his horse, and stalked into the house. On inquiry, he found
that Anty was in her own room. He was sorry she was not out; for, to
tell the truth, he was rather anxious to put off the meeting, as he
did not feel himself quite up to the mark, and was ashamed of seeming
afraid of her. He went into the stable, and abused the groom; into the
kitchen, and swore at the maid; and then into the garden. It was a
nasty, cold, February day, and he walked up and down the damp muddy
walks till he was too tired and cold to walk longer, and then turned
into the parlour, and remained with his back to the fire, till the man
came in to lay the cloth, thinking on the one subject that occupied all
his mind--occasionally grinding his teeth, and heaping curses on his
father and sister, who, together, had inflicted such grievous, such
unexpected injuries upon him.
If, at this moment, there was a soul in all Ireland over whom Satan had
full dominion--if there was a breast unoccupied by one good thought--if
there was a heart wishing, a brain conceiving, and organs ready to
execute all that was evil, from the worst motives, they were to be
found in that miserable creature, as he stood there urging himself on
to hate those whom he should have loved--cursing those who were nearest
to him--fearing her, whom he had ill-treated all his life--and striving
to pluck up courage to take such measures as might entirely quell
her. Money was to him the only source of gratification. He had looked
forward, when a boy, to his manhood, as a period when he might indulge,
unrestrained, in pleasures which money would buy; and, when a man, to
his father's death, as a time when those means would be at his full
command. He had neither ambition, nor affection, in his nature; his
father had taught him nothing but the excellence of money, and, having
fully imbued him with this, had cut him off from the use of it.
He was glad when he found that dinner was at hand, and that he could
not now see his sister until after he had fortified himself with drink.
Anty rarely, if ever, dined with him; so he sat down, and swallowed his
solitary meal. He did not eat much, but he gulped down three or four
glasses of wine; and, immediately on having done so, he desired the
servant, with a curse, to bring him hot water and sugar, and not to
keep him waiting all night for a tumbler of punch, as he did usually.
Before the man had got into the kitchen, he rang the bell again;
and when the servant returned breathless, with the steaming jug, he
threatened to turn him out of the house at once, if he was not quicker
in obeying the orders given him. He then made a tumbler of punch,
filling the glass half full of spirits, and drinking it so hot as to
scald his throat; and when that was done he again rang the bell, and
desired the servant to tell Miss Anty that he wanted to speak to her.
When the door was shut, he mixed more drink, to support his courage
during the interview, and made up his mind that nothing should daunt
him from preventing the marriage, in one way or another. When Anty
opened the door, he was again standing with his back to the fire, his
hands in his pockets, the flaps of his coat hanging over his arms, his
shoulders against the mantel-piece, and his foot on the chair on which
he had been sitting. His face was red, and his eyes were somewhat
blood-shot; he had always a surly look, though, from his black hair,
and large bushy whiskers, many people would have called him good
looking; but now there was a scowl in his restless eyes, which
frightened Anty when she saw it; and the thick drops of perspiration
on his forehead did not add benignity to his face.
"Were you wanting me, Barry?" said Anty, who was the first to speak.
"What do you stand there for, with the door open?" replied her brother,
"d' you think I want the servants to hear what I've got to say?"
"'Deed I don't know," said Anty, shutting the door; "but they'll hear
just as well now av' they wish, for they'll come to the kay-hole."
"Will they, by G----!" said Barry, and he rushed to the door, which
he banged open; finding no victim outside on whom to exercise his
wrath--"let me catch 'em!" and he returned to his position by the fire.
Anty had sat down on a sofa that stood by the wall opposite the
fireplace, and Barry remained for a minute, thinking how he'd open the
campaign. At last he began:
"Anty, look you here, now. What scheme have you got in your
head?--You'd better let me know, at once."
"What schame, Barry?"
"Well--what schame, if you like that better."
"I've no schame in my head, that I know of--at laist--" and then Anty
blushed. It would evidently be easy enough to make the poor girl tell
her own secret.
"Well, go on--at laist--"
"I don't know what you mane, Barry. Av' you're going to be badgering me
again, I'll go away."
"It's evident you're going to do something you're ashamed of, when
you're afraid to sit still, and answer a common question. But you must
answer me. I'm your brother, and have a right to know. What's this
you're going to do?' He didn't like to ask her at once whether she was
going to get married. It might not be true, and then he would only be
putting the idea into her head. 'Well,--why don't you answer me? What
is it you're going to do?"
"Is it about the property you mane, Barry?"
"What a d----d hypocrite you are! As if you didn't know what I mean!
As for the property, I tell you there'll be little left the way you're
going on. And as to that, I'll tell you what I'm going to do; so, mind,
I warn you beforehand. You're not able--that is, you're too foolish and
weak-headed to manage it yourself; and I mean, as your guardian, to put
it into the hands of those that shall manage it for you. I'm not going
to see you robbed and duped, and myself destroyed by such fellows as
Moylan, and a crew of huxtering blackguards down in Dunmore. And now,
tell me at once, what's this I hear about you and the Kellys?"
"What Kellys?" said Anty, blushing deeply, and half beside herself with
fear--for Barry's face was very red, and full of fierce anger, and his
rough words frightened her.
"What Kellys! Did you ever hear of Martin Kelly? d----d young robber
that he is!" Anty blushed still deeper--rose a little way from the
sofa, and then sat down again. "Look you here, Anty--I'll have the
truth out of you. I'm not going to be bamboozled by such an idiot as
you. You got an old man, when he was dying, to make a will that has
robbed me of what was my own, and now you think you'll play your own
low game; but you're mistaken! You've lived long enough without a
husband to do without one now; and I can tell you I'm not going to see
my property carried off by such a low, paltry blackguard as Martin
Kelly."
"How can he take your property, Barry?" sobbed forth the poor creature,
who was, by this time, far gone in tears.
"Then the long and the short of it is, he shan't have what you call
yours. Tell me, at once, will you--is it true, that you've promised to
marry him?"
Anty replied nothing, but continued sobbing violently.
"Cease your nonsense, you blubbering fool! A precious creature you
are to take on yourself to marry any man! Are you going to answer me,
Anty?" And he walked away from the fire, and came and stood opposite to
her as she sat upon the sofa. "Are you going to answer me or not?" he
continued, stamping on the floor.
"I'll not stop here--and be trated this way--Barry--I'm sure--I do all
I--I can for you--and you're always--bullying me because father divided
the property." And Anty continued sobbing more violently than ever. "I
won't stop in the room any more," and she got up to go to the door.
Barry, however, rushed before her, and prevented her. He turned the
lock, and put the key in his pocket; and then he caught her arm, as she
attempted to get to the bell, and dragged her back to the sofa.
"You're not off so easy as that, I can tell you. Why, d' you think
you're to marry whom you please, without even telling me of it? What
d'you think the world would say of me, if I were to let such an idiot
as you be caught up by the first sharper that tried to rob you of your
money? Now, look here," and he sat down beside her, and laid his hand
violently on her arm, as he spoke, "you don't go out of this room,
alive, until you've given me your solemn promise, and sworn on the
cross, that you'll never marry without my consent; and you'll give me
that in writing, too."
Anty at first turned very pale when she felt his heavy hand on her arm,
and saw his red, glaring eyes so near her own. But when he said she
shouldn't leave the room alive, she jumped from the sofa, and shrieked,
at the top of her shrill voice,--"Oh, Barry! you'll not murdher me!
shure you wouldn't murdher your own sisther!"
Barry was rather frightened at the noise, and, moreover, the word
"murder" quelled him. But when he found, after a moment's pause, that
the servants had not heard, or had not heeded his sister, he determined
to carry on his game, now that he had proceeded so far. He took,
however, a long drink out of his tumbler, to give him fresh courage,
and then returned to the charge.
"Who talked of murdering you? But, if you bellow in that way, I'll gag
you. It's a great deal I'm asking, indeed--that, when I'm your only
guardian, my advice should be asked for before you throw away your
money on a low ruffian. You're more fit for a mad-house than to be any
man's wife; and, by Heaven, that's where I'll put you, if you don't
give me the promise I ask! Will you swear you'll marry no one without
my leave?"
Poor Anty shook with fear as she sate, with her eyes fixed on her
brother's face. He was nearly drunk now, and she felt that he was
so,--and he looked so hot and so fierce--so red and cruel, that she
was all but paralysed. Nevertheless, she mustered strength to say,
"Let me go, now, Barry, and, to-morrow, I'll tell you
everything--indeed I will--and I'll thry to do all you'd have me;
indeed, and indeed, I will! Only do let me go now, for you've frighted
me."
"You're likely to be more frighted yet, as you call it! And be tramping
along the roads, I suppose, with Martin Kelly, before the morning. No!
I'll have an answer from you, any way. I've a right to that!"
"Oh, Barry!--What is it you want?--Pray let me go--pray, pray, for the
love of the blessed Jesus, let me go."
"I'll tell you where you'll go, and that's into Ballinasloe mad-house!
Now, mark me--so help me--I'll set off with you this night, and have
you there in the morning--as an idiot as you are, if you won't make the
promise I'm telling you!"
By this time Anty's presence of mind had clean left her. Indeed, all
the faculties of her reason had vanished; and, as she saw her brother's
scowling face so near her own, and heard him threatening to drag her to
a mad-house, she put her hands before her eyes, and made one rush to
escape from him--to the door--to the window--anywhere to get out of his
reach.
Barry was quite drunk now. Had he not been so, even he would hardly
have done what he then did. As she endeavoured to rush by him, he
raised his fist, and struck her on the face, with all his force. The
blow fell upon her hands, as they were crossed over her face; but the
force of the blow knocked her down, and she fell upon the floor,
senseless, striking the back of her head against the table.
"Confound her," muttered the brute, between his teeth, as she fell,
"for an obstinate, pig-headed fool! What the d----l shall I do now?
Anty, get up!--get up, will you!--What ails you?"--and then again to
himself, "the d----l seize her! What am I to do now?" and he succeeded
in dragging her on to the sofa.
The man-servant and the cook although up to this point, they had
considered it would be ill manners to interrupt the brother and sister
in their family interview, were nevertheless at the door; and though
they could see nothing, and did not succeed in hearing much, were not
the less fully aware that the conversation was of a somewhat stormy
nature on the part of the brother. When they heard the noise which
followed the blow, though not exactly knowing what had happened, they
became frightened, and began to think something terrible was being
done.
"Go in, Terry, avich," whispered the woman,--"Knock, man, and go
in--shure he's murdhering her!"
"What 'ud he do to me thin, av' he'd strick a woman, and she his own
flesh and blood! He'll not murdher her--but, faix, he's afther doing
something now! Knock, Biddy, knock, I say, and screech out that you're
afther wanting Miss Anty."
The woman had more courage than the man--or else more compassion, for,
without further parleying, she rapped her knuckles loudly against the
door, and, as she did so, Terry sneaked away to the kitchen.
Barry had just succeeded in raising his sister to the sofa as he heard
the knock.
"Who's that?" he called out loudly; "what do you want?"
"Plaze yer honer, Miss Anty's wanting in the kitchen."
"She's busy, and can't come at present; she'll be there directly."
"Is she ill at all, Mr. Barry? God bless you, spake, Miss Anty; in
God's name, spake thin. Ah! Mr. Barry, thin, shure she'd spake av' she
were able."
"Go away, you fool! Your mistress'll be out in a minute." Then, after a
moment's consideration, he went and unlocked the door, "or--go in, and
see what she wants. She's fainted, I think."
Barry Lynch walked out of the room, and into the garden before the
house, to think over what he had done, and what he'd better do for the
future, leaving Anty to the care of the frightened woman.
She soon came to herself, and, excepting that her head was bruised
in the fall, was not much hurt. The blow, falling on her hands, had
neither cut nor marked her; but she was for a long time so flurried
that she did not know where she was, and, in answer to all Biddy's
tender inquiries as to the cause of her fall, and anathemas as to the
master's bad temper, merely said that "she'd get to bed, for her head
ached so, she didn't know where she was."
To bed accordingly she went; and glad she was to have escaped alive
from that drunken face, which had glared on her for the last half hour.
After wandering about round the house and through the grounds, for
above an hour, Barry returned, half sobered, to the room; but, in his
present state of mind, he could not go to bed sober. He ordered more
hot water, and again sat down alone to drink, and drown the remorse he
was beginning to feel for what he had done--or rather, not remorse, but
the feeling of fear that every one would know how he had treated Anty,
and that they would side with her against him. Whichever way he looked,
all was misery and disappointment to him, and his only hope, for the
present, was in drink. There he sat, for a long time, with his eyes
fixed on the turf, till it was all burnt out, trying to get fresh
courage from the spirits he swallowed, and swearing to himself that he
would not be beat by a woman.
About one o'clock he seized one of the candles, and staggered up to
bed. As he passed his sister's door, he opened it and went in. She was
fast asleep; her shoes were off, and the bed-clothes were thrown over
her, but she was not undressed. He slowly shut the door, and stood, for
some moments, looking at her; then, walking to the bed, he took her
shoulder, and shook it as gently as his drunkenness would let him. This
did not wake her, so he put the candle down on the table, close beside
the bed, and, steadying himself against the bedstead, he shook her
again and again. "Anty", he whispered, "Anty"; and, at last, she opened
her eyes. Directly she saw his face, she closed them again, and buried
her own in the clothes; however, he saw that she was awake, and,
bending his head, he muttered, loud enough for her to hear, but in a
thick, harsh, hurried, drunken voice, "Anty--d'ye hear? If you marry
that man, I'll have your life!" and then, leaving the candle behind
him, he staggered off into his own room in the dark.
VI. THE ESCAPE
In vain, after that, did Anty try to sleep; turn which way she would,
she saw the bloodshot eyes and horrid drunken face of her cruel
brother. For a long time she lay, trembling and anxious; fearing she
knew not what, and trying to compose herself--trying to make herself
think that she had no present cause for fear; but in vain. If she heard
a noise, she thought it was her brother's footstep, and when the house
was perfectly silent and still, she feared the very silence itself. At
last, she crept out of bed, and, taking the candle left by her brother,
which had now burned down to the socket, stepped softly down the
stairs, to the place where the two maid-servants slept, and, having
awakened them, she made Biddy return with her and keep her company for
the remainder of the night. She did not quite tell the good-natured
girl all that had passed; she did not own that her brother had
threatened to send her to a madhouse, or that he had sworn to have her
life; but she said enough to show that he had shamefully ill-treated
her, and to convince Biddy that wherever her mistress might find a
home, it would be very unadvisable that she and Barry should continue
to live under the same roof.
Early in the morning, "Long afore the break o' day," as the song says,
Biddy got up from her hard bed on the floor of her mistress' room, and,
seeing that Anty was at last asleep, started to carry into immediate
execution the counsels she had given during the night. As she passed
the head of the stairs, she heard the loud snore of Barry, in his
drunken slumber; and, wishing that he might sleep as sound for ever and
ever, she crept down to her own domicile, and awakened her comrade.
"Whist, Judy--whist, darlint! Up wid ye, and let me out."
"And what'd you be doing out now?" yawned Judy.
"An arrand of the misthress;--shure, he used her disperate. Faix, it's
a wondher he didn't murther her outright!"
"And where are ye going now?"
"Jist down to Dunmore--to the Kellys then, avich. Asy now; I'll be
telling you all bye and bye. She must be out of this intirely."
"Is't Miss Anty? Where'd she be going thin out of this?"
"Divil a matther where! He'd murther her, the ruffian 'av he cotched
her another night in his dhrunkenness. We must git her out before he
sleeps hisself right. But hurry now, I'll be telling you all when I'm
back again."
The two crept off to the back door together, and, Judy having opened
it, Biddy sallied out, on her important and good-natured mission. It
was still dark, though the morning was beginning to break, as she
stood, panting, at the front door of the inn. She tried to get in at
the back, but the yard gates were fastened; and Jack, the ostler, did
not seem to be about yet. So she gave a timid, modest knock, with the
iron knocker, on the front door. A pause, and then a second knock, a
little louder; another pause, and then a third; and then, as no one
came, she remembered the importance of her message, and gave such a rap
as a man might do, who badly wanted a glass of hot drink after
travelling the whole night.
The servants had good or hardy consciences, for they slept soundly; but
the widow Kelly, in her little bed-room behind the shop, well knew the
sound of that knocker, and, hurrying on her slippers and her gown, she
got to the door, and asked who was there.
"Is that Sally, ma'am?" said Biddy, well knowing the widow's voice.
"No, it's not. What is it you're wanting?"
"Is it Kate thin, ma'am?"
"No, it's not Kate. Who are you, I say; and what d'you want?"
"I'm Biddy, plaze ma'am--from Lynch's, and I'm wanting to spake to
yerself, ma'am--about Miss Anty. She's very bad intirely, ma'am."
"What ails her;--and why d'you come here? Why don't you go to Doctor
Colligan, av' she's ill; and not come knocking here?"
"It ain't bad that way, Miss Anty is, ma'am. Av' you'd just be good
enough to open the door, I'd tell you in no time."
It would, I am sure, be doing injustice to Mrs Kelly to say that her
curiosity was stronger than her charity; they both, however, no doubt
had their effect, and the door was speedily opened.
"Oh, ma'am!" commenced Biddy, "sich terrible doings up at the house!
Miss Anty's almost kilt!"
"Come out of the cowld, girl, in to the kitchen fire," said the widow,
who didn't like the February blast, to which Biddy, in her anxiety, had
been quite indifferent; and the careful widow again bolted the door,
and followed the woman into certainly the warmest place in Dunmore, for
the turf fire in the inn kitchen was burning day and night. "And now,
tell me what is it ails Miss Anty? She war well enough yesterday, I
think, and I heard more of her then than I wished."
Biddy now pulled her cloak from off her head, settled it over her
shoulders, and prepared for telling a good substantial story.
"Oh, Misthress Kelly, ma'am, there's been disperate doings last night
up at the house. We were all hearing, in the morn yesterday, as how
Miss Anty and Mr Martin, God bless him!--were to make a match of
it,--as why wouldn't they, ma'am? for wouldn't Mr Martin make her a
tidy, dacent, good husband?"
"Well, well, Biddy--don't mind Mr Martin; he'll be betther without a
wife for one while, and he needn't be quarrelling for one when he wants
her. What ails Miss Anty?"
"Shure I'm telling you, ma'am; howsomever, whether its thrue or no
about Mr Martin, we were all hearing it yestherday; and the masther,
he war afther hearing it too, for he come into his dinner as black as
tunder; and Terry says he dhrunk the whole of a bottle of wine, and
then he called for the sperrits, and swilled away at them till he was
nigh dhrunk. Well, wid that, ma'am, he sent for Miss Anty, and the
moment she comes in, he locks to the door, and pulls her to the sofa,
and swears outright that he'll murdher her av' she don't swear, by the
blessed Mary and the cross, that she'll niver dhrame of marrying no
one."
"Who tould you all this, Biddy? was it herself?"
"Why, thin, partly herself it war who tould me, ma'am, and partly--;
you see, when Mr Barry war in his tantrums and dhrunken like, I didn't
like to be laving Miss Anty alone wid him, and nobody nigh, so I and
Terry betook ourselves nigh the door, and, partly heard what was
going on; that's the thruth on it, Mrs Kelly; and, afther a dale of
rampaging and scolding, may I niver see glory av' he didn't up wid his
clenched fist, strik her in the face, and knock her down--all for one
as 'av she wor a dhrunken blackguard at a fair!"
"You didn't see that, Biddy?"
"No, ma'am--I didn't see it; how could I, through the door?--but I
heerd it, plain enough. I heerd the poor cratur fall for dead amongst
the tables and chairs--I did, Mrs Kelly--and I heerd the big blow smash
agin her poor head, and down she wint--why wouldn't she? and he, the
born ruffian, her own brother, the big blackguard, stricking at her wid
all his force! Well, wid that ma'am, I rushed into the room--at laist,
I didn't rush in--for how could I, and the door locked?--but I knocked
agin and agin, for I war afeard he would be murthering her out and out.
So, I calls out, as loud as I could, as how Miss Anty war wanting in
the kitchen: and wid that he come to the door, and unlocks it as bould
as brass, and rushes out into the garden, saying as how Miss Anty war
afther fainting. Well, in course I goes in to her, where he had dragged
her upon the sofa, and, thrue enough, she war faint indeed."
"And, did she tell you, Biddy, that her own brother had trated her that
way?"
"Wait, Mrs Kelly, ma'am, till I tell yer how it all happened. When she
comed to herself--and she warn't long coming round--she didn't say
much, nor did I; for I didn't just like then to be saying much agin the
masther, for who could know where his ears were?--perish his sowl, the
blackguard!"
"Don't be cursing, Biddy."
"No, ma'am; only he must be cursed, sooner or later. Well, when she
comed to herself, she begged av' me to help her to bed, and she went up
to her room, and laid herself down, and I thought to myself that at any
rate it was all over for that night. When she war gone, the masther
he soon come back into the house, and begun calling for the sperrits
again, like mad; and Terry said that when he tuk the biling wather into
the room, Mr Barry war just like the divil--as he's painted, only for
his ears. After that Terry wint to bed; and I and Judy weren't long
afther him, for we didn't care to be sitting up alone wid him, and he
mad dhrunk. So we turned in, and we were in bed maybe two hours or so,
and fast enough, when down come the misthress--as pale as a sheet, wid
a candle in her hand, and begged me, for dear life, to come up into her
room to her, and so I did, in coorse. And then she tould me all--and,
not contint with what he'd done down stairs, but the dhrunken ruffian
must come up into her bed-room and swear the most dreadfullest things
to her you iver heerd, Mrs Kelly. The words he war afther using, and
the things he said, war most horrid; and Miss Anty wouldn't for her
dear life, nor for all the money in Dunmore, stop another night, nor
another day in the house wid him."
"But, is she much hurt, Biddy?"
"Oh! her head's cut, dreadful, where she fell, ma'am: and he shuck the
very life out of her poor carcase; so he did, Mrs Kelly, the ruffian!"
"Don't be cursing, I tell you, girl. And what is it your misthress is
wishing to do now? Did she tell you to come to me?"
"No, ma'am; she didn't exactly tell me--only as she war saying that she
wouldn't for anything be staying in the house with Mr Barry; and as she
didn't seem to be knowing where she'd be going, and av' she be raally
going to be married to Mr Martin--"
"Drat Mr Martin, you fool! Did she tell you she wanted to come here?".
"She didn't quite say as much as that. To tell the thruth, thin, it wor
I that said it, and she didn't unsay it; so, wid that, I thought I'd
come down here the first thing, and av' you, Mrs Kelly, wor thinking it
right, we'd get her out of the house before the masther's stirring."
The widow was a prudent woman, and she stood, for some time,
considering; for she felt that, if she held out her hand to Anty now,
she must stick to her through and through in the battle which there
would be between her and her brother; and there might be more plague
than profit in that. But then, again, she was not at all so indifferent
as she had appeared to be, to her favourite son's marrying four
hundred a-year. She was angry at his thinking of such a thing without
consulting her; she feared the legal difficulties he must encounter;
and she didn't like the thoughts of its being said that her son had
married an old fool, and cozened her out of her money. But still,
four hundred a-year was a great thing; and Anty was a good-tempered
tractable young woman, of the right religion, and would not make a bad
wife; and, on reconsideration, Mrs Kelly thought the thing wasn't to be
sneezed at. Then, again, she hated Barry, and, having a high spirit,
felt indignant that he should think of preventing her son from marrying
his sister, if the two of them chose to do it; and she knew she'd be
able, and willing enough, too, to tell him a bit of her mind, if there
should be occasion. And lastly, and most powerfully of all, the woman's
feeling came in to overcome her prudential scruples, and to open her
heart and her house to a poor, kindly, innocent creature, ill-treated
as Anty Lynch had been. She was making up her mind what to do, and
determining to give battle royal to Barry and all his satellites, on
behalf of Anty, when Biddy interrupted her by saying,--
"I hope I warn't wrong, ma'am, in coming down and throubling you so
arly? I thought maybe you'd be glad to befrind Miss Anty--seeing she
and Miss Meg, and Miss Jane, is so frindly."
"No, Biddy;--for a wondher, you're right, this morning. Mr Barry won't
be stirring yet?"
"Divil a stir, ma'am! The dhrunkenness won't be off him yet this long
while. And will I go up, and be bringing Miss Anty down, ma'am?"
"Wait a while. Sit to the fire there, and warm your shins. You're a
good girl. I'll go and get on my shoes and stockings, and my cloak, and
bonnet. I must go up wid you myself, and ask yer misthress down, as she
should be asked. They'll be telling lies on her 'av she don't lave the
house dacently, as she ought."
"More power to you thin, Mrs Kelly, this blessed morning, for a kind
good woman as you are, God bless you!" whimpered forth Biddy, who, now
that she had obtained her request, began to cry, and to stuff the
corner of her petticoat into her eyes.
"Whist, you fool--whist," said the widow. "Go and get up Sally--you
know where she sleeps--and tell her to put down a fire in the little
parlour upstairs, and to get a cup of tay ready, and to have Miss Meg
up. Your misthress'll be the better of a quiet sleep afther the night
she's had, and it'll be betther for her jist popping into Miss Meg's
bed than getting between a pair of cowld sheets."
These preparations met with Biddy's entire approval, for she reiterated
her blessings on the widow, as she went to announce all the news to
Sally and Kate, while Mrs Kelly made such preparations as were fitting
for a walk, at that early hour, up to Dunmore House.
They were not long before they were under weigh, but they did not reach
the house quite so quickly as Biddy had left it. Mrs Kelly had to pick
her way in the half light, and observed that "she'd never been up to
the house since old Simeon Lynch built it, and when the stones were
laying for it, she didn't think she ever would; but one never knowed
what changes might happen in this world."
They were soon in the house, for Judy was up to let them in; and though
she stared when she saw Mrs Kelly, she merely curtsied, and said
nothing.
The girl went upstairs first, with the candle, and Mrs Kelly followed,
very gently, on tiptoe. She need not have been so careful to avoid
waking Barry, for, had a drove of oxen been driven upstairs, it would
not have roused him. However, up she crept,--her thick shoes creaking
on every stair,--and stood outside the door, while Biddy went in to
break the news of her arrival.
Anty was still asleep, but it did not take much to rouse her; and she
trembled in her bed, when, on her asking what was the matter, Mrs Kelly
popped her bonnet inside the door, and said,
"It's only me, my dear. Mrs Kelly, you know, from the inn," and then
she very cautiously insinuated the rest of her body into the room, as
though she thought that Barry was asleep under the bed, and she was
afraid of treading on one of his stray fingers. "It's only me, my
dear. Biddy's been down to me, like a good girl; and I tell you
what--this is no place for you, just at present, Miss Anty; not till
such time as things is settled a little. So I'm thinking you'd betther
be slipping down wid me to the inn there, before your brother's up.
There's nobody in it, not a sowl, only Meg, and Jane, and me, and
we'll make you snug enough between us, never fear."
"Do, Miss Anty, dear do, darling," added Biddy. "It'll be a dale
betther for you than waiting here to be batthered and bruised, and,
perhaps, murthered out and out."
"Hush, Biddy--don't be saying such things," said the widow, who had a
great idea of carrying on the war on her own premises, but who felt
seriously afraid of Barry now that she was in his house, "don't be
saying such things, to frighthen her. But you'll be asier there than
here," she continued, to Anty; "and there's nothin like having things
asy. So, get up alanna [12], and we'll have you warm and snug down there in
no time."
[FOOTNOTE 12: alanna--my child]
Anty did not want much persuading. She was soon induced to get up and
dress herself, to put on her cloak and bonnet, and hurry off with the
widow, before the people of Dunmore should be up to look at her going
through the town to the inn; while Biddy was left to pack up such
things as were necessary for her mistress' use, and enjoined to hurry
down with them to the inn as quick as she could; for, as the widow
said, "there war no use in letting every idle bosthoon [13] in the
place see her crossing with a lot of baggage, and set them all asking
the where and the why and the wherefore; though, for the matther of
that, they'd all hear it soon enough."
[FOOTNOTE 13: bosthoon--a worthless fellow]
To tell the truth, Mrs Kelly's courage waned from the moment of her
leaving her own door, and it did not return till she felt herself
within it again. Indeed, as she was leaving the gate of Dunmore House,
with Anty on her arm, she was already beginning to repent what she was
doing; for there were idlers about, and she felt ashamed of carrying
off the young heiress. But these feelings vanished the moment she had
crossed her own sill. When she had once got Anty home, it was all
right. The widow Kelly seldom went out into the world; she seldom went
anywhere except to mass; and, when out, she was a very modest and
retiring old lady; but she could face the devil, if necessary, across
her own counter.
And so Anty was rescued, for a while, from her brother's persecution.
This happened on the morning on which Martin and Lord Ballindine met
together at the lawyer's, when the deeds were prepared which young
Kelly's genuine honesty made him think necessary before he eloped with
old Sim Lynch's heiress. He would have been rather surprised to hear,
at that moment, that his mother had been before him, and carried off
his bride elect to the inn!
Anty was soon domesticated. The widow, very properly, wouldn't let her
friends, Meg and Jane, ask her any questions at present. Sally had
made, on the occasion, a pot of tea sufficient to supply the morning
wants of half a regiment, and had fully determined that it should not
be wasted. The Kelly girls were both up, and ready to do anything for
their friend; so they got her to take a little of Sally's specific, and
put her into a warm bed to sleep, quiet and secure from any
interruption.
While her guest was sleeping, the widow made up her mind that her best
and safest course, for the present, would be, as she expressed it to
her daughter, Meg, "to keep her toe in her pump, and say nothing to
nobody."
"Anty can just stay quiet and asy," she continued, "till we see what
Master Barry manes to be afther; he'll find it difficult enough to move
her out of this, I'm thinking, and I doubt his trying. As to money
matthers, I'll neither meddle nor make, nor will you, mind; so listen
to that, girls; and as to Moylan, he's a dacent quiet poor man--but
it's bad thrusting any one. Av' he's her agent, however, I s'pose he'll
look afther the estate; only, Barry'll be smashing the things up there
at the house yonder in his anger and dhrunken fits, and it's a pity
the poor girl's property should go to rack. But he's such a born
divil, she's lucky to be out of his clutches alive; though, thank the
Almighty, that put a good roof over the lone widow this day, he can't
clutch her here. Wouldn't I like to see him come to the door and ax for
her! And he can't smash the acres, nor the money they say Mulholland
has, at Tuam; and faix, av' he does any harm up there at the house,
shure enough Anty can make him pay for--it every pot and pan of it--out
of his share, and she'll do it, too--av' she's said by me. But mind,
I'll neither meddle nor make; neither do you, and then we're safe, and
Anty too. And Martin'll be here soon--I wondher what good Dublin'll
do him?--They might have the Repale without him, I suppose?--And when
he's here, why, av' he's minded to marry her, and she's plased, why,
Father Geoghegan may come down, and do it before the whole counthry,
and who's ashamed? But there'll be no huggery-muggery, and schaming;
that is, av' they're said by me. Faix, I'd like to know who she's to
be afeared of, and she undher this roof! I s'pose Martin ain't fool
enough to care for what such a fellow as Barry Lynch can do or say--and
he with all the Kellys to back him; as shure they would, and why not,
from the lord down? Not that I recommend the match; I think Martin a
dale betther off as he is, for he's wanting nothing, and he's his own
industhry--and, maybe, a handful of money besides. But, as for being
afeard--I niver heard yet that a Kelly need be afeard of a Lynch in
Dunmore."
In this manner did Mrs Kelly express the various thoughts that ran
through her head, as she considered Anty's affairs; and if we could
analyse the good lady's mind, we should probably find that the result
of her reflections was a pleasing assurance that she could exercise
the Christian virtues of charity and hospitality towards Anty, and, at
the same time, secure her son's wishes and welfare, without subjecting
her own name to any obloquy, or putting herself to any loss or
inconvenience. She determined to put no questions to Anty, nor even to
allude to her brother, unless spoken to on the subject; but, at the
same time, she stoutly resolved to come to no terms with Barry, and
to defy him to the utmost, should he attempt to invade her in her own
territories.
After a sound sleep Anty got up, much strengthened and refreshed, and
found the two Kelly girls ready to condole with, or congratulate her,
according to her mood and spirits. In spite of their mother's caution,
they were quite prepared for gossiping, as soon as Anty showed the
slightest inclination that way; and, though she at first was afraid to
talk about her brother, and was even, from kindly feeling, unwilling
to do so, the luxury of such an opportunity of unrestrained confidence
overcame her; and, before the three had been sitting together for a
couple of hours, she had described the whole interview, as well as the
last drunken midnight visit of Barry's to her own bed-room, which, to
her imagination, was the most horrible of all the horrors of the night.
Poor Anty. She cried vehemently that morning--more in sorrow for her
brother, than in remembrance of her own fears, as she told her friends
how he had threatened to shut her up in a mad-house, and then to murder
her, unless she promised him not to marry; and when she described how
brutally he had struck her, and how, afterwards, he had crept to her
room, with his red eyes and swollen face, in the dead of the night,
and, placing his hot mouth close to her ears, had dreadfully sworn that
she should die, if she thought of Martin Kelly as her husband, she
trembled as though she was in an ague fit.
The girls said all they could to comfort her, and they succeeded in
a great degree; but they could not bring her to talk of Martin. She
shuddered whenever his name was mentioned, and they began to fear
that Barry's threat would have the intended effect, and frighten her
from the match. However, they kindly talked of other things--of how
impossible it was that she should go back to Dunmore House, and how
comfortable and snug they would make her at the inn, till she got
a home for herself; of what she should do, and of all their little
household plans together; till Anty, when she could forget her
brother's threats for a time, seemed to be more comfortable and happy
than she had been for years.
In vain did the widow that morning repeatedly invoke Meg and Jane,
first one and then the other, to assist in her commercial labours. In
vain were Sally and Kate commissioned to bring them down. If, on some
urgent behest, one of them darted down to mix a dandy of punch, or
weigh a pound of sugar, when the widow was imperatively employed
elsewhere, she was upstairs again, before her mother could look about
her; and, at last, Mrs Kelly was obliged to content herself with the
reflection that girls would be girls, and that it was "nathural and
right they shouldn't wish to lave Anty alone the first morning, and she
sthrange to the place."
At five o'clock, the widow, as was her custom, went up to her dinner;
and Meg was then obliged to come down and mind the shop, till her
sister, having dined, should come down and relieve guard. She had only
just ensconced herself behind the counter, when who should walk into
the shop but Barry Lynch.
Had Meg seen an ogre, or the enemy of all mankind himself, she could
not, at the moment, have been more frightened; and she stood staring at
him, as if the sudden loss of the power of motion alone prevented her
from running away.
"I want to see Mrs Kelly," said Barry; "d'ye hear? I want to see your
mother; go and tell her."
But we must go back, and see how Mr Lynch had managed to get up, and
pass his morning.
VII. MR BARRY LYNCH MAKES A MORNING CALL
It was noon before Barry first opened his eyes, and discovered the
reality of the headache which the night's miserable and solitary
debauch had entailed on him. For, in spite of the oft-repeated
assurance that there is not a headache in a hogshead of it, whiskey
punch will sicken one, as well as more expensive and more fashionable
potent drinks. Barry was very sick when he first awoke; and very
miserable, too; for vague recollections of what he had done, and
doubtful fears of what he might have done, crowded on him. A drunken
man always feels more anxiety about what he has not done in his
drunkenness, than about what he has; and so it was with Barry. He
remembered having used rough language with his sister, but he could not
remember how far he had gone. He remembered striking her, and he knew
that the servant had come in; but he could not remember how, or with
what he had struck her, or whether he had done so more than once, or
whether she had been much hurt. He could not even think whether he had
seen her since or not; he remembered being in the garden after she had
fallen, and drinking again after that, but nothing further. Surely, he
could not have killed her? he could not even have hurt her very much,
or he would have heard of it before this. If anything serious had
happened, the servants would have taken care that he should have heard
enough about it ere now. Then he began to think what o'clock it could
be, and that it must be late, for his watch was run down; the general
fate of drunkards, who are doomed to utter ignorance of the hour at
which they wake to the consciousness of their miserable disgrace. He
feared to ring the bell for the servant; he was afraid to ask the
particulars of last night's work; so he turned on his pillow, and tried
to sleep again. But in vain. If he closed his eyes, Anty was before
them, and he was dreaming, half awake, that he was trying to stifle
her, and that she was escaping, to tell all the world of his brutality
and cruelty. This happened over and over again; for when he dozed but
for a minute, the same thing re-occurred, as vividly as before, and
made even his waking consciousness preferable to the visions of his
disturbed slumbers. So, at last, he roused himself, and endeavoured to
think what he should do.
Whilst he was sitting up in his bed, and reflecting that he must
undress himself before he could dress himself--for he had tumbled into
bed with most of his clothes on--Terry's red head appeared at the door,
showing an anxiety, on the part of its owner, to see if "the masther"
was awake, but to take no step to bring about such a state, if,
luckily, he still slept.
"What's the time, Terry?" said Lynch, frightened, by his own state,
into rather more courtesy than he usually displayed to those dependent
on him.
"Well then, I b'lieve it's past one, yer honer."
"The d----l it is! I've such a headache. I was screwed last night; eh,
Terry?"
"I b'lieve yer war, yer honer."
"What o'clock was it when I went to bed?"
"Well then, I don't rightly know, Mr Barry; it wasn't only about ten
when I tuk in the last hot wather, and I didn't see yer honer afther
that."
"Well; tell Miss Anty to make me a cup of tea, and do you bring it up
here." This was a feeler. If anything was the matter with Anty, Terry
would be sure to tell him now; but he only said, "Yis, yer honer," and
retreated.
Barry now comforted himself with the reflection that there was no great
harm done, and that though, certainly, there had been some row between
him and Anty, it would probably blow over; and then, also, he began to
reflect that, perhaps, what he had said and done, would frighten her
out of her match with Kelly.
In the meantime. Terry went into the kitchen, with the news that
"masther was awake, and axing for tay." Biddy had considered herself
entitled to remain all the morning at the inn, having, in a manner,
earned a right to be idle for that day, by her activity during the
night; and the other girl had endeavoured to enjoy the same luxury, for
she had been found once or twice during the morning, ensconced in the
kitchen, under Sally's wing; but Mrs Kelly had hunted her back, to go
and wait on her master, giving her to understand that she would not
receive the whole household.
"And ye're afther telling him where Miss Anty's gone, Terry?" inquired
the injured fair one.
"Divil a tell for me thin,--shure, he may find it out hisself, widout
my telling him."
"Faix, it's he'll be mad thin, when he finds she's taken up with the
likes of the widdy Kelly!"
"And ain't she betther there, nor being murthered up here? He'd be
killing her out and out some night."
"Well, but Terry, he's not so bad as all that; there's worse than him,
and ain't it rasonable he shouldn't be quiet and asy, and she taking up
with the likes of Martin Kelly?"
"May be so; but wouldn't she be a dale happier with Martin than up here
wid him? Any ways it don't do angering him, so, get him the tay, Judy."
It was soon found that this was easier said than done, for Anty, in her
confusion, had taken away the keys in her pocket, and there was no tea
to be had.
The bell was now rung, and, as Barry had gradually re-assured himself,
rung violently; and Terry, when he arrived distracted at the bed-room
door, was angrily asked by his thirsty master why the tea didn't
appear? The truth was now obliged to come out, or at any rate, part of
it: so Terry answered, that Miss Anty was out, and had the keys with
her.
Miss Anty was so rarely out, that Barry instantly trembled again. Had
she gone to a magistrate, to swear against him? Had she run away from
him? Had she gone off with Martin?
"Where the d----l's she gone, Terry?" said he, in his extremity.
"Faix, yer honour, thin, I'm not rightly knowing; but I hear tell she's
down at the widow Kelly's."
"Who told you, you fool?"
"Well thin, yer honer, it war Judy."
"And where's Judy?"
And it ended in Judy's being produced, and the two of them, at length,
explained to their master, that the widow had come up early in the
morning and fetched her away; and Judy swore "that not a know she
knowed how it had come about, or what had induced the widow to come, or
Miss Anty to go, or anything about it; only, for shure, Miss Anty was
down there, snug enough, with Miss Jane and Miss Meg; and the widdy
war in her tantrums, and wouldn't let ony dacent person inside the
house-door--barring Biddy. And that wor all she knowed av' she wor on
the book."
The secret was now out. Anty had left him, and put herself under the
protection of Martin Kelly's mother; had absolutely defied him, after
all his threats of the preceding night. What should he do now! All his
hatred for her returned again, all his anxious wishes that she might be
somehow removed from his path, as an obnoxious stumbling-block. A few
minutes ago, he was afraid he had murdered her, and he now almost
wished that he had done so. He finished dressing himself, and then
sat down in the parlour, which had been the scene of his last night's
brutality, to concoct fresh schemes for the persecution of his sister.
In the meantime, Terry rushed down to the inn, demanding the keys, and
giving Mrs Kelly a fearful history of his master's anger. This she very
wisely refrained from retailing, but, having procured the keys, gave
them to the messenger, merely informing him, that "thanks to God's kind
protection, Miss Anty was tolerably well over the last night's work,
and he might tell his master so."
This message Terry thought it wisest to suppress, so he took the
breakfast up in silence, and his master asked no more questions. He
was very sick and pale, and could eat nothing; but he drank a quantity
of tea, and a couple of glasses of brandy-and-water, and then he
felt better, and again began to think what measures he should take,
what scheme he could concoct, for stopping this horrid marriage, and
making his sister obedient to his wishes. "Confound her," he said,
almost aloud, as he thought, with bitter vexation of spirit, of her
unincumbered moiety of the property, "confound them all!" grinding his
teeth, and meaning by the "all" to include with Anty his father, and
every one who might have assisted his father in making the odious will,
as well as his own attorney in Tuam, who wouldn't find out some legal
expedient by which he could set it aside. And then, as he thought of
the shameful persecution of which he was the victim, he kicked the
fender with impotent violence, and, as the noise of the falling fire
irons added to his passion, he reiterated his kicks till the
unoffending piece of furniture was smashed; and then with manly
indignation he turned away to the window.
But breaking the furniture, though it was what the widow predicted of
him, wouldn't in any way mend matters, or assist him in getting out of
his difficulties. What was he to do? He couldn't live on £200 a-year;
he couldn't remain in Dunmore, to be known by every one as Martin
Kelly's brother-in-law; he couldn't endure the thoughts of dividing the
property with such "a low-born huxtering blackguard", as he called him
over and over again. He couldn't stay there, to be beaten by him in the
course of legal proceedings, or to give him up amicable possession of
what ought to have been--what should have been his--what he looked
upon as his own. He came back, and sat down again over the fire,
contemplating the debris of the fender, and turning all these miserable
circumstances over in his mind. After remaining there till five
o'clock, and having fortified himself with sundry glasses of wine, he
formed his resolution. He would make one struggle more; he would first
go down to the widow, and claim his sister, as a poor simple young
woman, inveigled away from her natural guardian; and, if this were
unsuccessful, as he felt pretty sure it would be, he would take
proceedings to prove her a lunatic. If he failed, he might still delay,
and finally put off the marriage; and he was sure he could get some
attorney to put him in the way of doing it, and to undertake the work
for him. His late father's attorney had been a fool, in not breaking
the will, or at any rate trying it, and he would go to Daly. Young
Daly, he knew, was a sharp fellow, and wanted practice, and this would
just suit him. And then, if at last he found that nothing could be done
by this means, if his sister and the property _must_ go from him, he
would compromise the matter with the bridegroom, he would meet him half
way, and, raising what money he could on his share of the estate, give
leg bail to his creditors, and go to some place abroad, where tidings
of Dunmore would never reach him. What did it matter what people said?
he should never hear it. He would make over the whole property to
Kelly, on getting a good life income out of it. Martin was a prudent
fellow, and would jump at such a plan. As he thought of this, he
even began to wish that it was done; he pictured to himself the easy
pleasures, the card-tables, the billiard-rooms, and cafés of some
Calais or Boulogne; pleasures which he had never known, but which had
been so glowingly described to him; and he got almost cheerful again as
he felt that, in any way, there might be bright days yet in store for
him.
He would, however, still make the last effort for the whole stake. It
would be time enough to give in, and make the best of a _pis aller_
[14], when he was forced to do so. If beaten, he would make use of
Martin Kelly; but he would first try if he couldn't prove him to be a
swindling adventurer, and his sister to be an idiot.
[FOOTNOTE 14: pis aller--(French) last resort]
Much satisfied at having come to this salutary resolution, he took up
his hat, and set out for the widow's, in order to put into operation
the first part of the scheme. He rather wished it over, as he knew that
Mrs Kelly was no coward, and had a strong tongue in her head. However,
it must be done, and the sooner the better. He first of all looked
at himself in his glass, to see that his appearance was sufficiently
haughty and indignant, and, as he flattered himself, like that of a
gentleman singularly out of his element in such a village as Dunmore;
and then, having ordered his dinner to be ready on his return, he
proceeded on his voyage for the recovery of his dear sister.
Entering the shop, he communicated his wishes to Meg, in the manner
before described; and, while she was gone on her errand, he remained
alone there, lashing his boot, in the most approved, but, still, in a
very common-place manner.
"Oh, mother!" said Meg, rushing into the room where her mother, and
Jane, and Anty, were at dinner, "there's Barry Lynch down in the shop,
wanting you."
"Oh my!" said Jane. "Now sit still, Anty dear, and he can't come near
you. Shure, he'll niver be afther coming upstairs, will he, Meg?"
Anty, who had begun to feel quite happy in her new quarters, and among
her kind friends, turned pale, and dropped her knife and fork. "What'll
I do, Mrs Kelly?" she said, as she saw the old lady complacently get
up. "You're not going to give me up? You'll not go to him?"
"Faith I will thin, my dear," replied the widow; "never fear else--I'll
go to him, or any one else that sends to me in a dacent manner. May-be
it's wanting tay in the shop he is. I'll go to him immediately. But,
as for giving you up, I mane you to stay here, till you've a proper
home of your own; and Barry Lynch has more in him than I think, av' he
makes me alter my mind. Set down quiet, Meg, and get your dinner." And
the widow got up, and proceeded to the shop.
The girls were all in commotion. One went to the door at the top of the
stairs, to overhear as much as possible of what was to take place; and
the other clasped Anty's hand, to re-assure her, having first thrown
open the door of one of the bed-rooms, that she might have a place of
retreat in the event of the enemy succeeding in pushing his way
upstairs.
"Your humble sarvant, Mr Lynch," said the widow, entering the shop and
immediately taking up a position of strength in her accustomed place
behind the counter. "Were you wanting me, this evening?" and she
took up the knife with which she cut penn'orths of tobacco for her
customers, and hitting the counter with its wooden handle looked as
hard as copper, and as bold as brass.
"Yes, Mrs Kelly," said Barry, with as much dignity as he could muster,
"I do want to speak to you. My sister has foolishly left her home this
morning, and my servants tell me she is under your roof. Is this true?"
"Is it Anty? Indeed she is thin: ating her dinner, upstairs, this very
moment;" and she rapped the counter again, and looked her foe in the
face.
"Then, with your leave, Mrs Kelly, I'll step up, and speak to her. I
suppose she's alone?"
"Indeed she ain't thin, for she's the two girls ating wid her, and
myself too, barring that I'm just come down at your bidding. No; we're
not so bad as that, to lave her all alone; and as for your seeing her,
Mr Lynch, I don't think she's exactly wishing it at present; so, av'
you've a message, I'll take it."
"You don't mean to say that Miss Lynch--my sister--is in this inn, and
that you intend to prevent my seeing her? You'd better take care what
you're doing, Mrs Kelly. I don't want to say anything harsh at present,
but you'd better take care what you're about with me and my family, or
you'll find yourself in a scrape that you little bargain for."
"I'll take care of myself, Mr Barry; never fear for me, darling; and,
what's more, I'll take care of your sister, too. And, to give you a
bit of my mind--she'll want my care, I'm thinking, while you're in the
counthry."
"I've not come here to listen to impertinence, Mrs Kelly, and I will
not do so. In fact, it is very unwillingly that I came into this house
at all."
"Oh, pray lave it thin, pray lave it! We can do without you."
"Perhaps you will have the civility to listen to me. It is very
unwillingly, I say, that I have come here at all; but my sister, who
is, unfortunately, not able to judge for herself, is here. How she came
here I don't pretend to say--"
"Oh, she walked," said the widow, interrupting him; "she walked, quiet
and asy, out of your door, and into mine. But that's a lie, for it was
out of her own. She didn't come through the kay-hole, nor yet out of
the window."
"I'm saying nothing about how she came here, but here she is, poor
creature!"
"Poor crature, indeed! She was like to be a poor crature, av' she
stayed up there much longer."
"Here she is, I say, and I consider it my duty to look after her. You
cannot but be aware, Mrs Kelly, that this is not a fit place for Miss
Lynch. You must be aware that a road-side public-house, however decent,
or a village shop, however respectable, is not the proper place for my
sister; and, though I may not yet be legally her guardian, I am her
brother, and am in charge of her property, and I insist on seeing her.
It will be at your peril if you prevent me."
"Have you done, now, Misther Barry?"
"That's what I've got to say; and I think you've sense enough to see
the folly--not to speak of the danger, of preventing me from seeing my
sister."
"That's your say, Misther Lynch; and now, listen to mine. Av' Miss
Anty was wishing to see you, you'd be welcome upstairs, for her sake;
but she ain't, so there's an end of that; for not a foot will you put
inside this, unless you're intending to force your way, and I don't
think you'll be for trying that. And as to bearing the danger, why,
I'll do my best; and, for all the harm you're likely to do me--that's
by fair manes,--I don't think I'll be axing any one to help me out of
it. So, good bye t' ye, av' you've no further commands, for I didn't
yet well finish the bit I was ating."
"And you mean to say, Mrs Kelly, you'll take upon yourself to prevent
my seeing my sister?"
"Indeed I do; unless she was wishing it, as well as yourself; and no
mistake."
"And you'll do that, knowing, as you do, that the unfortunate young
woman is of weak mind, and unable to judge for herself, and that I'm
her brother, and her only living relative and guardian?"
"All blathershin, Masther Barry," said the uncourteous widow, dropping
the knife from her hand, and smacking her fingers: "as for wake mind,
it's sthrong enough to take good care of herself and her money too,
now she's once out of Dunmore House. There many waker than Anty Lynch,
though few have had worse tratement to make them so. As for guardian,
I'm thinking it's long since she was of age, and, av' her father
didn't think she wanted one, when he made his will, you needn't bother
yourself about it, now she's no one to plaze only herself. And as for
brother, Masther Barry, why didn't you think of that before you struck
her, like a brute, as you are--before you got dhrunk, like a baste, and
then threatened to murdher her? Why didn't you think about brother and
sisther before you thried to rob the poor _wake_ crature, as you call
her; and when you found she wasn't quite wake enough, as you call it,
swore to have her life, av' she wouldn't act at your bidding? That's
being a brother and a guardian, is it, Masther Barry? Talk to me of
danger, you ruffian," continued the widow, with her back now thoroughly
up; "you'd betther look to yourself, or I know who'll be in most
danger. Av' it wasn't the throuble it'd be to Anty,--and, God knows,
she's had throubles enough, I'd have had her before the magisthrates
before this, to tell of what was done last night up at the house,
yonder. But mind, she can do it yet, and, av' you don't take yourself
very asy, she shall. Danger, indeed! a robber and ruffian like you, to
talk of danger to me--and his _dear_ sisther, too, and aftimer trying
his best, last night, to murdher her!"
These last words, with a long drawl on the word _dear_, were addressed
rather to the crowd, whom the widow's loud voice had attracted into the
open shop, than to Barry, who stood, during this tirade, half stupefied
with rage, and half frightened, at the open attack made on him with
reference to his ill-treatment of Anty. However, he couldn't pull in
his horns now, and he was obliged, in self-defence, to brazen it out.
"Very well, Mrs Kelly--you shall pay for this impudence, and that
dearly. You've invented these lies, as a pretext for getting my sister
and her property into your hands!"
"Lies!" screamed the widow; "av' you say lies to me agin, in this
house, I'll smash the bones of ye myself, with the broom-handle.
Lies, indeed! and from you, Barry Lynch, the biggest liar in all
Connaught--not to talk of robber and ruffian! You'd betther take
yourself out of that, fair and asy, while you're let. You'll find
you'll have the worst of it, av' you come rampaging here wid me, my
man;" and she turned round to the listening crowd for sympathy, which
those who dared were not slow in giving her.
"And that's thrue for you, Mrs Kelly, Ma'am," exclaimed one.
"It's a shame for him to come storming here, agin a lone widdy, so it
is," said a virago, who seemed well able, like the widow herself, to
take her own part.
"Who iver knew any good of a Lynch--barring Miss Anty herself?" argued
a third.
"The Kellys is always too good for the likes of them," put in a fourth,
presuming that the intended marriage was the subject immediately in
discourse.
"Faix, Mr Martin's too good for the best of 'em," declared another.
"Niver mind Mr Martin, boys," said the widow, who wasn't well pleased
to have her son's name mentioned in the affair--"it's no business of
his, one way or another; he ain't in Dunmore, nor yet nigh it. Miss
Anty Lynch has come to me for protection; and, by the Blessed Virgin,
she shall have it, as long as my name's Mary Kelly, and I ain't like
to change it; so that's the long and short of it, Barry Lynch. So you
may go and get dhrunk agin as soon as you plaze, and bate and bang
Terry Rooney, or Judy Smith; only I think either on 'em's more than
a match for you."
"Then I tell you, Mrs Kelly," replied Barry, who was hardly able to
get in a word, "that you'll hear more about it. Steps are now being
taken to prove Miss Lynch a lunatic, as every one here knows she
unfortunately is; and, as sure as you stand there, you'll have to
answer for detaining her; and you're much mistaken if you think you'll
get hold of her property, even though she were to marry your son, for,
I warn you, she's not her own mistress, or able to be so."
"Drat your impudence, you low-born ruffian," answered his opponent;
"who cares for her money? It's not come to that yet, that a Kelly is
wanting to schame money out of a Lynch."
"I've nothing more to say, since you insist on keeping possession of
my sister," and Barry turned to the door. "But you'll be indicted for
conspiracy, so you'd better be prepared."
"Conspiracy, is it?" said one of Mrs Kelly's admirers; "maybe, Ma'am,
he'll get you put in along with Dan and Father Tierney, God bless them!
It's conspiracy they're afore the judges for."
Barry now took himself off, before hearing the last of the widow's
final peal of thunder.
"Get out wid you! You're no good, and never will be. An' it wasn't for
the young woman upstairs, I'd have the coat off your back, and your
face well mauled, before I let you out of the shop!" And so ended the
interview, in which the anxious brother can hardly be said to have been
triumphant, or successful.
The widow, on the other hand, seemed to feel that she had acquitted
herself well, and that she had taken the orphan's part, like a woman,
a Christian, and a mother; and merely saying, with a kind of inward
chuckle, "Come to me, indeed, with his roguery! he's got the wrong pig
by the ear!" she walked off, to join the more timid trio upstairs, one
of whom was speedily sent down, to see that business did not go astray.
And then she gave a long account of the interview to Anty and Meg,
which was hardly necessary, as they had heard most of what had passed.
The widow however was not to know that, and she was very voluble in her
description of Barry's insolence, and of the dreadfully abusive things
he had said to her--how he had given her the lie, and called her out of
her name. She did not, however, seem to be aware that she had, herself,
said a word which was more than necessarily violent; and assured Anty
over and over again, that, out of respect to her feelings, and because
the man was, after all, her brother, she had refrained from doing and
saying what she would have done and said, had she been treated in
such a manner by anybody else. She seemed, however, in spite of the
ill-treatment which she had undergone, to be in a serene and happy
state of mind. She shook Anty's two hands in hers, and told her to make
herself "snug and asy where she was, like a dear girl, and to fret
for nothing, for no one could hurt or harum her, and she undher Mary
Kelly's roof." Then she wiped her face in her apron, set to at her
dinner; and even went so far as to drink a glass of porter, a thing she
hadn't done, except on a Sunday, since her eldest daughter's marriage.
Barry Lynch sneaked up the town, like a beaten dog. He felt that the
widow had had the best of it, and he also felt that every one in
Dunmore was against him. It was however only what he had expected, and
calculated upon; and what should he care for the Dunmore people? They
wouldn't rise up and kill him, nor would they be likely even to injure
him. Let them hate on, he would follow his own plan. As he came near
the house gate, there was sitting, as usual, Jacky, the fool.
"Well, yer honer, Masther Barry," said Jacky, "don't forget your poor
fool this blessed morning!"
"Away with you! If I see you there again, I'll have you in Bridewell,
you blackguard."
"Ah, you're joking, Masther Barry. You wouldn't like to be afther doing
that. So yer honer's been down to the widdy's? That's well; it's a
fine thing to see you on good terms, since you're soon like to be so
sib. Well, there an't no betther fellow, from this to Galway, than
Martin Kelly, that's one comfort, Masther Barry."
Barry looked round for something wherewith to avenge himself for this,
but Jacky was out of his reach; so he merely muttered some customary
but inaudible curses, and turned into the house.
He immediately took pen, ink, and paper, and, writing the following
note dispatched it to Tuam, by Terry, mounted for the occasion, and
directed on no account to return without an answer. If Mr Daly wasn't
at home, he was to wait for his return; that is, if he was expected
home that night.
Dunmore House, Feb. 1844.
My dear Sir,
I wish to consult you on legal business, which will _bear no
delay_. The subject is of considerable importance, and I am
induced to think it will be more ably handled by you than by
Mr Blake, my father's man of business. There is a bed at your
service at Dunmore House, and I shall be glad to see you to
dinner to-morrow.
I am, dear Sir, Your faithful servant,
BARRY LYNCH.
P.S.--You had better not mention in Tuam that you are coming
to me,--not that my business is one that I intend to keep
secret.
J. Daly, Esq., Solicitor, Tuam.
In about two hours' time, Terry had put the above into the hands of the
person for whom it was intended, and in two more he had brought back an
answer, saying that Mr Daly would be at Dunmore House to dinner on the
following day. And Terry, on his journey there and back, did not forget
to tell everyone he saw, from whom he came, and to whom he was going.
VIII. MR MARTIN KELLY RETURNS TO DUNMORE
We will now return to Martin Kelly. I have before said that as soon
as he had completed his legal business,--namely, his instructions for
the settlement of Anty Lynch's property, respecting which he and Lord
Ballindine had been together to the lawyer's in Clare Street,--he
started for home, by the Ballinasloe canal-boat, and reached that
famous depôt of the fleecy tribe without adventure. I will not attempt
to describe the tedium of that horrid voyage, for it has been often
described before; and to Martin, who was in no ways fastidious, it
was not so unendurable as it must always be to those who have been
accustomed to more rapid movement. Nor yet will I attempt to put on
record the miserable resources of those, who, doomed to a twenty hours'
sojourn in one of these floating prisons, vainly endeavour to occupy
or amuse their minds. But I will advise any, who from ill-contrived
arrangements, or unforeseen misfortune, [15] may find themselves on
board the Ballinasloe canal-boat, to entertain no such vain dream.
The _vis inertiæ_ [16] of patient endurance, is the only weapon of any
use in attempting to overcome the lengthened ennui of this most tedious
transit. Reading is out of the question. I have tried it myself, and
seen others try it, but in vain. The sense of the motion, almost
imperceptible, but still perceptible; the noises above you; the smells
around you; the diversified crowd, of which you are a part; at one
moment the heat this crowd creates; at the next, the draught which
a window just opened behind your ears lets in on you; the fumes of
punch; the snores of the man under the table; the noisy anger of his
neighbour, who reviles the attendant sylph; the would-be witticisms of
a third, who makes continual amorous overtures to the same overtasked
damsel, notwithstanding the publicity of his situation; the loud
complaints of the old lady near the door, who cannot obtain the
gratuitous kindness of a glass of water; and the baby-soothing
lullabies of the young one, who is suckling her infant under your
elbow. These things alike prevent one from reading, sleeping, or
thinking. All one can do is to wait till the long night gradually wears
itself away, and reflect that,
Time and the hour run through the longest day [17].
[FOOTNOTE 15: Of course it will be remembered that this was
written before railways in Ireland had been
constructed. (original footnote by Trollope)]
[FOOTNOTE 16: vis inertiae--(Latin) the power of inertia]
[FOOTNOTE 17: _Macbeth_, Act I, Sc. 3: "Come what come may,
Time and the hour runs through the roughest day."]
I hardly know why a journey in one of these boats should be much more
intolerable than travelling either outside or inside a coach; for,
either in or on the coach, one has less room for motion, and less
opportunity of employment. I believe the misery of the canal-boat
chiefly consists in a pre-conceived and erroneous idea of its
capabilities. One prepares oneself for occupation--an attempt is made
to achieve actual comfort--and both end in disappointment; the limbs
become weary with endeavouring to fix themselves in a position of
repose, and the mind is fatigued more by the search after, than the
want of, occupation.
Martin, however, made no complaints, and felt no misery. He made great
play at the eternal half-boiled leg of mutton, floating in a bloody sea
of grease and gravy, which always comes on the table three hours after
the departure from Porto Bello. He, and others equally gifted with
the _dura ilia messorum_ [18], swallowed huge collops [19] of the raw
animal, and vast heaps of yellow turnips, till the pity with which a
stranger would at first be inclined to contemplate the consumer of such
unsavoury food, is transferred to the victim who has to provide the
meal at two shillings a head. Neither love nor drink--and Martin had,
on the previous day, been much troubled with both--had affected his
appetite; and he ate out his money with the true persevering prudence
of a Connaught man, who firmly determines not to be done.
[FOOTNOTE 18: dura ilia messorum--(Latin) the strong intestines
of reapers--a quotation from Horace's _Epodes_ III.
Trollope was an accomplished Latin scholar and later
wrote a _Life of Cicero_. His books are full of
quotations from many Roman writers.]
[FOOTNOTE 19: collops--portions of food or slices of meat]
He was equally diligent at breakfast; and, at last, reached
Ballinasloe, at ten o'clock the morning after he had left Dublin, in a
flourishing condition. From thence he travelled, by Bianconi's car, as
far as Tuam, and when there he went at once to the hotel, to get a hack
car to take him home to Dunmore.
In the hotel yard he found a car already prepared for a journey;
and, on giving his order for a similar vehicle for his own use, was
informed, by the disinterested ostler, that the horse then being
harnessed, was to take Mr Daly, the attorney, to Tuam, [20] and that
probably that gentleman would not object to join him, Martin, in the
conveyance. Martin, thinking it preferable to pay fourpence rather than
sixpence a mile for his jaunt, acquiesced in this arrangement, and, as
he had a sort of speaking acquaintance with Mr Daly, whom he rightly
imagined would not despise the economy which actuated himself, he had
his carpet-bag put into the well of the car, and, placing himself on
it, he proceeded to the attorney's door.
[FOOTNOTE 20: The text says "Tuam," but the destination is
really Dunmore.]
He soon made the necessary explanation to Mr Daly, who made no
objection to the proposal; and he also throwing a somewhat diminutive
carpet-bag into the same well, placed himself alongside of our friend,
and they proceeded on their journey, with the most amicable feelings
towards each other.
They little guessed, either the one or the other, as they commenced
talking on the now all-absorbing subject of the great trial, that they
were going to Dunmore for the express object--though not with the
expressed purpose, of opposing each other--that Daly was to be employed
to suggest any legal means for robbing Martin of a wife, and Anty
of her property; and that Martin was going home with the fixed
determination of effecting a wedding, to prevent which his companion
was, in consideration of liberal payment, to use all his ingenuity and
energy.
When they had discussed O'Connel and his companions, and their chances
of liberation for four or five miles, and when Martin had warmly
expressed his assurance that no jury could convict the saviours of
their country, and Daly had given utterance to his legal opinion that
saltpetre couldn't save them from two years in Newgate, Martin asked
his companion whether he was going beyond Dunmore that night?
"No, indeed, then," replied Daly; "I have a client there now--a thing I
never had in that part of the country before yesterday."
"We'll have you at the inn, then, I suppose, Mr Daly?"
"Faith, you won't, for I shall dine on velvet. My new client is one
of the right sort, that can feed as well as fee a lawyer. I've got my
dinner, and bed tonight, whatever else I may get."
"There's not many of that sort in Dunmore thin; any way, there weren't
when I left it, a week since. Whose house are you going to, Mr Daly,
av' it's not impertinent asking?"
"Barry Lynch's."
"Barry Lynch's!" re-echoed Martin; "the divil you are! I wonder what's
in the wind with him now. I thought Blake always did his business?"
"The devil a know I know, so I can't tell you; and if I did, I
shouldn't, you may be sure. But a man that's just come to his property
always wants a lawyer; and many a one, besides Barry Lynch, ain't
satisfied without two."
"Well, any way, I wish you joy of your new client. I'm not over fond of
him myself, I'll own; but then there were always rasons why he and I
shouldn't pull well together. Barry's always been a dale too high for
me, since he was at school with the young lord. Well, good evening, Mr
Daly. Never mind time car coming down the street, as you're at your
friend's gate," and Martin took his bag on his arm, and walked down to
the inn.
Though Martin couldn't guess, as he walked quickly down the street,
what Barry Lynch could want with young Daly, who was beginning to be
known as a clever, though not over-scrupulous practitioner, he felt a
presentiment that it must have some reference to Anty and himself, and
this made him rather uncomfortable. Could Barry have heard of his
engagement? Had Anty repented of her bargain, during his short absence?
Had that old reptile Moylan, played him false, and spoilt his game?
"That must be it," said Martin to himself, "and it's odd but I'll be
even with the schamer, yet; only she's so asy frightened!--Av' she'd
the laist pluck in life, it's little I'd care for Moylan or Barry
either."
This little soliloquy brought him to the inn door. Some of the tribe of
loungers who were always hanging about the door, and whom in her hatred
of idleness the widow would one day rout from the place, and, in her
charity, feed the next, had seen Martin coming down the street, and had
given intelligence in the kitchen. As he walked in, therefore, at the
open door, Meg and Jane were ready to receive him in the passage. Their
looks were big with some important news. Martin soon saw that they had
something to tell.
"Well, girls," he said, as he chucked his bag and coat to Sally, "for
heaven's sake get me something to ate, for I'm starved. What's the
news at Dunmore?"
"It's you should have the news thin," said one, "and you just from
Dublin."
"There's lots of news there, then; I'll tell you when I've got my
dinner. How's the ould lady?" and he stepped on, as if to pass by
them, upstairs.
"Stop a moment, Martin," said Meg; "don't be in a hurry; there's some
one there."
"Who's there? is it a stranger?"
"Why, then, it is, and it isn't," said Jane.
"But you don't ask afther the young lady!" said her sister.
"May I be hanged thin, av' I know what the two of ye are afther! Is
there people in both the rooms? Come, girls, av' ye've anything to
tell, why don't you out wid it and have done? I suppose I can go into
the bed-room, at any rate?"
"Aisy, Martin, and I'll tell you. Anty's in the parlour."
"In the parlour upstairs?" said he; "the deuce she is! And what brought
her here? Did she quarrel with Barry, Meg?" added he, in a whisper.
"Indeed she did, out and out," said Meg.
"Oh, he used her horrible!" said Jane.
"He'll hear all about that by and by," said Meg. "Come up and see her
now, Martin."
"But does mother know she's here?"
"Why, it was she brought her here! She fetched her down from the house,
yesterday, before we was up."
Thus assured that Anty had not been smuggled upstairs, her lover, or
suitor as he might perhaps be more confidently called, proceeded to
visit her. If he wished her to believe that his first impulse, on
hearing of her being in the house, had been to throw himself at her
feet, it would have been well that this conversation should have been
carried on out of her hearing. But Anty was not an exigent mistress,
and was perfectly contented that as much of her recent history as
possible should be explained before Martin presented himself.
Martin went slowly upstairs, and paused a moment at the door, as if he
was a little afraid of commencing the interview; he looked round to his
sisters, and made a sign to them to come in with him, and then, quickly
pushing open the unfastened door, walked briskly up to Anty and shook
hands with her.
"I hope you're very well, Anty," said he; "seeing you here is what I
didn't expect, but I'm very glad you've come down."
"Thank ye, Martin," replied she; "it was very good of your mother,
fetching me. She's been the best friend I've had many a day."
"Begad, it's a fine thing to see you and the ould lady pull so well
together. It was yesterday you came here?"
"Yesterday morning. I was so glad to come! I don't know what they'd
been saying to Barry; but the night before last he got drinking, and
then he was very bad to me, and tried to frighten me, and so, you see,
I come down to your mother till we could be friends again."
Anty's apology for being at the inn, was perhaps unnecessary; but, with
the feeling so natural to a woman, she was half afraid that Martin
would fancy she had run after him, and she therefore thought it as well
to tell him that it was only a temporary measure. Poor Anty! At the
moment she said so, she trembled at the very idea of putting herself
again in her brother's power.
"Frinds, indeed!" said Meg; "how can you iver be frinds with the like
of him? What nonsense you talk, Anty! Why, Martin, he was like to
murdher her!--he raised his fist to her, and knocked her down--and,
afther that, swore to her he'd kill her outright av' she wouldn't sware
that she'd niver--"
"Whist, Meg! How can you go on that way?" said Anty, interrupting her,
and blushing. "I'll not stop in the room; don't you know he was dhrunk
when he done all that?"
"And won't he be dhrunk again, Anty?" suggested Jane.
"Shure he will: he'll be dhrunk always, now he's once begun," replied
Meg, who, of all the family was the most anxious to push her brother's
suit; and who, though really fond of her friend, thought the present
opportunity a great deal too good to be thrown away, and could not bear
the idea of Anty's even thinking of being reconciled to her brother.
"Won't he be always dhrunk now?" she continued; "and ain't we all
frinds here? and why shouldn't you let me tell Martin all? Afther
all's said and done, isn't he the best frind you've got?"--Here Anty
blushed very red, and to tell the truth, so did Martin too--"well so he
is, and unless you tell him what's happened, how's he to know what to
advise; and, to tell the truth, wouldn't you sooner do what he says
than any one else?"
"I'm sure I'm very much obliged to Mr Martin"--it had been plain Martin
before Meg's appeal; "but your mother knows what's best for me, and
I'll do whatever she says. Av' it hadn't been for her, I don't know
where I'd be now."
"But you needn't quarrel with Martin because you're frinds with
mother," answered Meg.
"Nonsense, Meg," said Jane, "Anty's not going to quarrel with him. You
hurry her too much."
Martin looked rather stupid all this time, but he plucked up courage
and said, "Who's going to quarrel? I'm shure, Anty, you and I won't;
but, whatever it is Barry did to you, I hope you won't go back there
again, now you're once here. But did he railly sthrike you in arnest?"
"He did, and knocked her down," said Jane.
"But won't you get your brother his dinner?" said Anty; "he must be
very hungry, afther his ride--and won't you see your mother afther your
journey, Mr Martin? I'm shure she's expecting you."
This, for the present, put an end to the conversation; the girls went
to get something for their brother to eat, and he descended into the
lower regions to pay his filial respects to his mother.
A considerable time passed before Martin returned to the meal the
three young women had provided for him, during which he was in close
consultation with the widow. In the first place, she began upbraiding
him for his folly in wishing to marry an old maid for her money; she
then taxed him with villany, for trying to cheat Anty out of her
property; and when he defended himself from that charge by telling her
what he had done about the settlement, she asked him how much he had to
pay the rogue of a lawyer for that "gander's job". She then proceeded
to point out all the difficulties which lay in the way of a marriage
between him, Martin, and her, Anty; and showed how mad it was for
either of them to think about it. From that, she got into a narrative
of Barry's conduct, and Anty's sufferings, neither of which lost
anything in the telling; and having by this time gossiped herself
into a good humour, she proceeded to show how, through her means and
assistance, the marriage might take place if he was still bent upon
it. She eschewed all running away, and would hear of no clandestine
proceedings. They should be married in the face of day, as the
Kellys ought, with all their friends round them. "They'd have no
huggery-muggery work, up in a corner; not they indeed! why should
they?--for fear of Barry Lynch?--who cared for a dhrunken blackguard
like that?--not she indeed! who ever heard of a Kelly being afraid of a
Lynch?--They'd ax him to come and see his sister married, and av' he
didn't like it, he might do the other thing."
And so, the widow got quite eloquent on the glories of the wedding, and
the enormities of her son's future brother-in-law, who had, she assured
Martin, come down and abused her horribly, in her own shop, before all
the town, because she allowed Anty to stay in the house. She then
proceeded to the consequences of the marriage, and expressed her hope
that when Martin got all that ready money he would "do something for
his poor sisthers--for Heaven knew they war like to be bad enough off,
for all she'd be able to do for them!" From this she got to Martin's
own future mode of life, suggesting a "small snug cottage on the farm,
just big enough for them two, and, may-be, a slip of a girl servant,
and not to be taring and tatthering away, as av' money had no eend;
and, afther all," she added, "there war nothing like industhry; and who
know'd whether that born villain, Barry, mightn't yet get sich a hoult
of the money, that there'd be no getting it out of his fist?" and she
then depicted, in most pathetic language, what would be the misery of
herself and all the Kellys if Martin, flushed with his prosperity, were
to give up the farm at Toneroe, and afterwards find that he had been
robbed of his expected property, and that he had no support for himself
and his young bride.
On this subject Martin considerably comforted her by assuring her that
he had no thoughts of abandoning Toneroe, although he did not go so far
as to acquiesce in the very small cottage; and he moreover expressed
his thorough confidence that he would neither be led himself, nor lead
Anty, into the imprudence of a marriage, until he had well satisfied
himself that the property was safe.
The widow was well pleased to find, from Martin's prudent resolves,
that he was her own son, and that she needn't blush for him; and then
they parted, she to her shop, and he to his dinner: not however, before
he had promised her to give up all ideas of a clandestine marriage, and
to permit himself to be united to his wife in the face of day, as
became a Kelly.
The evening passed over quietly and snugly at the inn. Martin had not
much difficulty in persuading his three companions to take a glass
of punch each out of his tumbler, and less in getting them to take a
second, and, before they went to bed, he and Anty were again intimate.
And, as he was sitting next her for a couple of hours on the little
sofa opposite the fire, it is more than probable that he got his arm
round her waist--a comfortable position, which seemed in no way to
shock the decorum of either Meg or Jane.
IX. MR DALY, THE ATTORNEY
We must now see how things went on in the enemy's camp.
The attorney drove up to the door of Dunmore House on his car, and was
shown into the drawing-room, where he met Barry Lynch. The two young
men were acquainted, though not intimate with each other, and they
bowed, and then shook hands; and Barry told the attorney that he was
welcome to Dunmore House, and the attorney made another bow, rubbed his
hands before the fire and said it was a very cold evening; and Barry
said it was 'nation cold for that time of the year; which, considering
that they were now in the middle of February, showed that Barry was
rather abroad, and didn't exactly know what to say. He remained for
about a minute, silent before the fire, and then asked Daly if he'd
like to see his room; and, the attorney acquiescing, he led him up to
it, and left him there.
The truth was, that, as the time of the man's visit had drawn nearer,
Barry had become more and more embarrassed; and now that the attorney
had absolutely come, his employer felt himself unable to explain the
business before dinner. "These fellows are so confoundedly sharp--I
shall never be up to him till I get a tumbler of punch on board," said
he to himself, comforting himself with the reflection; "besides, I'm
never well able for anything till I get a little warmed. We'll get
along like a house on fire when we've got the hot water between us."
The true meaning of all which was, that he hadn't the courage to make
known his villanous schemes respecting his sister till he was half
drunk; and, in order the earlier to bring about this necessary and now
daily consummation, he sneaked downstairs and took a solitary glass of
brandy to fortify himself for entertaining the attorney.
The dinner was dull enough; for, of course, as long as the man was in
the room there was no talking on business, and, in his present frame of
mind Barry was not likely to be an agreeable companion. The attorney
ate his dinner as if it was a part of the fee, received in payment of
the work he was to do, and with a determination to make the most of it.
At last, the dishes disappeared, and with them Terry Rooney; who,
however, like a faithful servant, felt too strong an interest in his
master's affairs to be very far absent when matters of importance were
likely to be discussed.
"And now, Mr Daly," said Lynch, "we can be snug here, without
interruption, for an hour or two. You'll find that whiskey old and
good, I think; but, if you prefer wine, that port on the table came
from Barton's, in Sackville Street."
"Thank ye; if I take anything, it'll be a glass of punch. But as we've
business to talk of, may-be I'd better keep my head clear."
"My head's never so clear then, as when I've done my second tumbler.
I'm never so sure of what I'm about as when I'm a little warmed;
'but,' says you, 'because my head's strong, it's no reason another's
shouldn't be weak:' but do as you like; liberty hall here now, Mr Daly;
that is, as far as I'm concerned. You knew my father, I believe, Mr
Daly?"
"Well then, Mr Lynch, I didn't exactly know him; but living so near
him, and he having so much business in the county, and myself having
a little, I believe I've been in company with him, odd times."
"He was a queer man: wasn't he, Mr Daly?"
"Was he, then? I dare say. I didn't know much about him. I'll take the
sugar from you, Mr Lynch; I believe I might as well mix a drop, as the
night's cold."
"That's right. I thought you weren't the fellow to sit with an empty
glass before you. But, as I was saying before, the old boy was a queer
hand; that is, latterly--for the last year or so. Of course you know
all about his will?"
"Faith then, not much. I heard he left a will, dividing the property
between you and Miss Lynch."
"He did! Just at the last moment, when the breath wasn't much more than
left in him, he signed a will, making away half the estate, just as you
say, to my sister. Blake could have broke the will, only he was so
d---- pig-headed and stupid. It's too late now, I suppose?"
"Why, I could hardly answer that, you know, as I never heard the
circumstances; but I was given to understand that Blake consulted
McMahon; and that McMahon wouldn't take up the case, as there was
nothing he could put before the Chancellor. Mind I'm only repeating
what people said in Tuam, and about there. Of course, I couldn't think
of advising till I knew the particulars. Was it on this subject, Mr
Lynch, you were good enough to send for me?"
"Not at all, Mr Daly. I look upon that as done and gone; bad luck to
Blake and McMahon, both. The truth is, between you and me, Daly--I
don't mind telling you; as I hope now you will become my man of
business, and it's only fair you should know all about it--the truth
is, Blake was more interested on the other side, and he was determined
the case shouldn't go before the Chancellor. But, when my father signed
that will, it was just after one of those fits he had lately; that
could be proved, and he didn't know what he was doing, from Adam! He
didn't know what was in the will, nor, that he was signing a will at
all; so help me, he didn't. However, that's over. It wasn't to talk
about that that I sent for you; only, sorrow seize the rogue that made
the old man rob me! It wasn't Anty herself, poor creature; she knew
nothing about it; it was those who meant to get hold of my money,
through her, that did it. Poor Anty! Heaven knows she wasn't up to such
a dodge as that!"
"Well, Mr Lynch, of course I know nothing of the absolute facts; but
from what I hear, I think it's as well to let the will alone. The
Chancellor won't put a will aside in a hurry; it's always a difficult
job--would cost an immense sum of money, which should, any way, come
out of the property; and, after all, the chances are ten to one you'd
be beat."
"Perhaps you're right, now; though I'm sure, had the matter been
properly taken up at first--had you seen the whole case at the first
start, the thing could have been done. I'm sure you would have said so;
but that's over now; it's another business I want you for. But you
don't drink your punch!--and it's dry work talking, without wetting
one's whistle," and Barry carried out his own recommendation.
"I'm doing very well, thank ye, Mr Lynch. And what is it I can do for
you?"
"That's what I'm coming to. You know that, by the will, my sister Anty
gets from four to five hundred a year?"
"I didn't know the amount; but I believe she has half whatever there
is."
"Exactly: half the land, half the cash, half the house, half
everything, except the debts! and those were contracted in my name, and
I must pay them all. Isn't that hard, Mr Daly?"
"I didn't know your father had debts."
"Oh, but he had--debts which ought to have been his; though, as I said,
they stand in my name, and I must pay them."
"And, I suppose, what you now want is to saddle the debts on the entire
property? If you can really prove that the debts were incurred for your
father's benefit, I should think you might do that. But has your sister
refused to pay the half? They can't be heavy. Won't Miss Lynch agree to
pay the half herself?"
This last lie of Barry's--for, to give the devil his due, old Sim
hadn't owed one penny for the last twenty years--was only a bright
invention of the moment, thrown off by our injured hero to aggravate
the hardships of his case; but he was determined to make the most of
it.
"Not heavy?--faith, they _are_ heavy, and d----d heavy too, Mr
Daly!--what'll take two hundred a-year out of my miserable share of the
property; divil a less. Oh! there's never any knowing how a man'll cut
up till he's gone."
"That's true; but how could your father owe such a sum as that, and no
one know it? Why, that must be four or five thousand pounds?"
"About five, I believe."
"And you've put your name to them, isn't that it?"
"Something like it. You know, he and Lord Ballindine, years ago, were
fighting about the leases we held under the old Lord; and then, the old
man wanted ready money, and borrowed it in Dublin; and, some years
since--that is, about three years ago,--sooner than see any of the
property sold, I took up the debt myself. You know, it was all as good
as my own then; and now, confound it! I must pay the whole out of the
miserable thing that's left me under this infernal will. But it wasn't
even about that I sent for you; only, I must explain exactly how
matters are, before I come to the real point."
"But your father's name must be joined with yours in the debt; and, if
so, you can come upon the entire property for the payment. There's no
difficulty about that; your sister, of course, must pay the half."
"It's not so, my dear fellow. I can't explain the thing exactly,
but it's I that owe the money, and I must pay it. But it's no good
talking of that. Well, you see, Anty that's my sister, has this
property all in her own hands. But you don't drink your punch," and
Barry mixed his third tumbler.
"Of course she has; and, surely she won't refuse to pay half the claims
on the estate?"
"Never mind the claims!" answered Barry, who began to fear that he
had pushed his little invention a thought too far. "I tell you, I
must stand to them; you don't suppose I'd ask her to pay a penny as a
favour? No; I'm a little too proud for that. Besides, it'd be no use,
not the least; and that's what I'm coming to. You see, Anty's got
this money, and--You know, don't you, Mr Daly, poor Anty's not just
like other people?"
"No," said Mr Daly--"I didn't. I can't say I know much about Miss
Lynch. I never had the pleasure of seeing her."
"But did you never hear she wasn't quite right?"
"Indeed, I never did, then."
"Well that's odd; but we never had it much talked about, poor
creature. Indeed, there was no necessity for people to know much about
it, for she never gave any trouble; and, to tell the truth, as long as
she was kept quiet, she never gave us occasion to think much about it.
But, confound them for rogues--those who have got hold of her now, have
quite upset her."
"But what is it ails your sister, Mr Lynch?"
"To have it out, at once, then--she's not right in her upper story.
Mind, I don't mean she's a downright lunatic; but she's cracked, poor
thing, and quite unable to judge for herself, in money-matters, and
such like; and, though she might have done very well, poor thing,
and passed without notice, if she'd been left quiet, as was always
intended, I'm afraid now, unless she's well managed, she'd end her
life in the Ballinasloe Asylum."
The attorney made no answer to this, although Barry paused, to allow
him to do so. Daly was too sharp, and knew his employer's character
too well to believe all he said, and he now began to fancy that he saw
what the affectionate brother was after. "Well, Daly," continued Barry,
after a minute's pause; "after the old man died, we went on quiet
enough for some time. I was up in Dublin mostly, about that confounded
loan, and poor Anty was left here by herself; and what should she do,
but take up with a low huxter's family in the town here."
"That's bad," said the attorney. "Was there an unmarried young man
among them at all?"
"Faith there was so; as great a blackguard as there is in Connaught."
"And Miss Lynch is going to marry him?"
"That's just it, Daly; that's what we must prevent. You know, for the
sake of the family, I couldn't let it go on. Then, poor creature, she'd
be plundered and ill-treated--she'd be a downright idiot in no time;
and, you know, Daly, the property'd go to the devil; and where'd I be
then?"
Daly couldn't help thinking that, in all probability, his kind host
would not be long in following the property; but he did not say so. He
merely asked the name of the "blackguard" whom Miss Anty meant to
marry?
"Wait till I tell you the whole of it. The first thing I heard was,
that Anty had made a low ruffian, named Moylan, her agent."
"I know him; she couldn't have done much worse. Well?"
"She made him her agent without speaking to me, or telling me a word
about it; and I couldn't make out what had put it into her head, till I
heard that this old rogue was a kind of cousin to some people living
here, named Kelly."
"What, the widow, that keeps the inn?"
"The very same! confound her, for an impertinent scheming old hag, as
she is. Well; that's the house that Anty was always going to; drinking
tea with the daughters, and walking with the son--an infernal young
farmer, that lives with them, the worst of the whole set."
"What, Martin Kelly?--There's worse fellows than him, Mr Lynch."
"I'll be hanged if I know them, then; but if there are, I don't choose
my poor sister--only one remove from an idiot, and hardly that--to be
carried off from her mother's house, and married to such a fellow as
that. Why, it's all the same infernal plot; it's the same people that
got the old man to sign the will, when he was past his senses!"
"Begad, they must have been clever to do that! How the deuce could they
have got the will drawn?"
"I tell you, they _did_ do it!" answered Barry, whose courage was now
somewhat raised by the whiskey. "That's neither here nor there, but
they did it; and, when the old fool was dead, they got this Moylan
made Anty's agent: and then, the hag of a mother comes up here, before
daylight, and bribes the servant, and carries her off down to her
filthy den, which she calls an inn; and when I call to see my sister,
I get nothing but insolence and abuse."
"And when did this happen? When did Miss Lynch leave the house?"
"Yesterday morning, about four o'clock."
"She went down of her own accord, though?"
"D----l a bit. The old hag came up here, and filched her out of her
bed."
"But she couldn't have taken your sister away, unless she had wished to
go."
"Of course she wished it; but a silly creature like her can't be let to
do all she wishes.. She wishes to get a husband, and doesn't care what
sort of a one she gets; but you don't suppose an old maid--forty years
old, who has always been too stupid and foolish ever to be seen or
spoken to, should be allowed to throw away four hundred a-year, on the
first robber that tries to cheat her? You don't mean to say there isn't
a law to prevent that?"
"I don't know how you'll prevent it, Mr Lynch. She's her own
mistress."
"What the d----l! Do you mean to say there's nothing to prevent an
idiot like that from marrying?"
"If she _was_ an idiot! But I think you'll find your sister has sense
enough to marry whom she pleases."
"I tell you she _is_ an idiot; not raving, mind; but everybody knows
she was never fit to manage anything."
"Who'd prove it!"
"Why, I would. Divil a doubt of it! I could prove that she never could,
all her life."
"Ah, my dear Sir! you couldn't do it; nor could I advise you to
try--that is, unless there were plenty more who could swear positively
that she was out of her mind. Would the servants swear that? Could you
yourself, now, positively swear that she was out of her mind?"
"Why--she never had any mind to be out of."
"Unless you are very sure she is, and, for a considerable time back,
has been, a confirmed lunatic, you'd be very wrong--very ill-advised,
I mean, Mr Lynch, to try that game at all. Things would come out which
you wouldn't like; and your motives would be--would be--" seen through
at once, the attorney was on the point of saying, but he stopped
himself, and finished by the words "called in question".
"And I'm to sit here, then, and see that young blackguard Kelly, run
off with what ought to be my own, and my sister into the bargain? I'm
blessed if I do! If you can't put me in the way of stopping it, I'll
find those that can."
"You're getting too much in a hurry, Mr Lynch. Is your sister at the
inn now?"
"To be sure she is."
"And she is engaged to this young man?"
"She is."
"Why, then, she might be married to him to-morrow, for anything you
know."
"She might, if he was here. But they tell me he's away, in Dublin."
"If they told you so to-day, they told you wrong: he came into Dunmore,
from Tuam, on the same car with myself, this very afternoon."
"What, Martin Kelly? Then he'll be off with her this night, while we're
sitting here!" and Barry jumped up, as if to rush out, and prevent the
immediate consummation of his worst fears.
"Stop a moment, Mr Lynch," said the more prudent and more sober lawyer.
"If they were off, you couldn't follow them; and, if you did follow and
find them, you couldn't prevent their being married, if such were their
wish, and they had a priest ready to do it. Take my advice; remain
quiet where you are, and let's talk the matter over. As for taking out
a commission 'de lunatico', as we call it, you'll find you couldn't do
it. Miss Lynch may be a little weak or so in the upper story, but she's
not a lunatic; and you couldn't make her so, if you had half Dunmore
to back you, because she'd be brought before the Commissioners herself,
and that, you know, would soon settle the question. But you might still
prevent the marriage, for a time, at any rate--at least, I think so;
and, after that, you must trust to the chapter of accidents."
"So help me, that's all I want! If I got her once up here again, and
was sure the thing was off, for a month or so, let me alone, then, for
bringing her to reason!"
As Daly watched his comrade's reddening face, and saw the malicious
gleam of his eyes as he declared how easily he'd manage the affair,
if poor Anty was once more in the house, his heart misgave him, even
though he was a sharp attorney, at the idea of assisting such a cruel
brute in his cruelty; and, for a moment, he had determined to throw up
the matter. Barry was so unprincipled, and so wickedly malicious in
his want of principle, that he disgusted even Daly. But, on second
thoughts, the lawyer remembered that if he didn't do the job, another
would; and, quieting his not very violent qualms of conscience with the
idea that, though employed by the brother, he might also, to a certain
extent, protect the sister, he proceeded to give his advice as to the
course which would be most likely to keep the property out of the hands
of the Kellys.
He explained to Barry that, as Anty had left her own home in company
with Martin's mother, and as she now was a guest at the widow's, it was
unlikely that any immediate clandestine marriage should be resorted
to; that their most likely course would be to brazen the matter out,
and have the wedding solemnised without any secrecy, and without any
especial notice to him, Barry. That, on the next morning, a legal
notice should be prepared in Tuam, and served on the widow, informing
her that it was his intention to indict her for conspiracy, in enticing
away from her own home his sister Anty, for the purpose of obtaining
possession of her property, she being of weak mind, and not able
properly to manage her own affairs; that a copy of this notice should
also be sent to Martin, warning him that he would be included in the
indictment if he took any proceedings with regard to Miss Lynch; and
that a further copy should, if possible, be put into the hands of Miss
Lynch herself.
"You may be sure that'll frighten them," continued Daly; "and then, you
know, when we see what sort of fight they make, we'll be able to judge
whether we ought to go on and prosecute or not. I think the widow'll be
very shy of meddling, when she finds you're in earnest. And you see, Mr
Lynch," he went on, dropping his voice, "if you _do_ go into court, as
I don't think you will, you'll go with clean hands, as you ought to do.
Nobody can say anything against you for trying to prevent your sister
from marrying a man so much younger than herself, and so much inferior
in station and fortune; you won't seem to gain anything by it, and
that's everything with a jury; and then, you know, if it comes out that
Miss Lynch's mind is rather touched, it's an additional reason why you
should protect her from intriguing and interested schemers. Don't you
see?"
Barry did see, or fancied he saw, that he had now got the Kellys
in a dead fix, and Anty back into his own hands again; and his
self-confidence having been fully roused by his potations, he was
tolerably happy, and talked very loudly of the manner in which he would
punish those low-bred huxters, who had presumed to interfere with him
in the management of his family.
Towards the latter end of the evening, he became even more
confidential, and showed the cloven foot, if possible, more
undisguisedly than he had hitherto done. He spoke of the impossibility
of allowing four hundred a year to be carried off from him, and
suggested to Daly that his sister would soon drop off,--that there
would then be a nice thing left, and that he, Daly, should have the
agency, and if he pleased, the use of Dunmore House. As for himself, he
had no idea of mewing himself up in such a hole as that; but, before he
went, he'd take care to drive that villain, Moylan, out of the place.
"The cursed villany of those Kellys, to go and palm such a robber as
that off on his sister, by way of an agent!"
To all this, Daly paid but little attention, for he saw that his host
was drunk. But when Moylan's name was mentioned, he began to think that
it might be as well either to include him in the threatened indictment,
or else, which would be better still, to buy him over to their side,
as they might probably learn from him what Martin's plans really were.
Barry was, however, too tipsy to pay much attention to this, or to
understand any deep-laid plans. So the two retired to their beds, Barry
determined, as he declared to the attorney in his drunken friendship,
to have it out of Anty, when he caught her; and Daly promising to go to
Tuam early in the morning, have the notices prepared and served, and
come back in the evening to dine and sleep, and have, if possible, an
interview with Mr Moylan. As he undressed, he reflected that, during
his short professional career, he had been thrown into the society of
many unmitigated rogues of every description; but that his new friend,
Barry Lynch, though he might not equal them in energy of villany and
courage to do serious evil, beat them all hollow in selfishness, and
utter brutal want of feeling, conscience, and principle.
X. DOT BLAKE'S ADVICE
In hour or two after Martin Kelly had left Porto Bello in the
Ballinasloe fly-boat, our other hero, Lord Ballindine, and his friend
Dot Blake, started from Morrison's hotel, with post horses, for
Handicap Lodge; and, as they travelled in Blake's very comfortable
barouche, they reached their destination in time for a late dinner,
without either adventure or discomfort. Here they remained for some
days, fully occupied with the education of their horses, the attention
necessary to the engagements for which they were to run, and with their
betting-books.
Lord Ballindine's horse, Brien Boru, was destined to give the Saxons
a dressing at Epsom, and put no one knows how many thousands into his
owner's hands, by winning the Derby; and arrangements had already been
made for sending him over to John Scott, the English trainer, at an
expense, which, if the horse should by chance fail to be successful,
would be of very serious consequence to his lordship. But Lord
Ballindine had made up his mind, or rather, Blake had made it up for
him, and the thing was to be done; the risk was to be run, and the
preparations--the sweats and the gallops, the physicking, feeding, and
coddling, kept Frank tolerably well employed; though the whole process
would have gone on quite as well, had he been absent.
It was not so, however, with Dot Blake. The turf, to him, was not an
expensive pleasure, but a very serious business, and one which, to give
him his due, he well understood. He himself, regulated the work, both
of his horses and his men, and saw that both did what was allotted to
them. He took very good care that he was never charged a guinea, where
a guinea was not necessary; and that he got a guinea's worth for every
guinea he laid out. In fact, he trained his own horses, and was thus
able to assure himself that his interests were never made subservient
to those of others who kept horses in the same stables. Dot was in his
glory, and in his element on the Curragh, and he was never quite happy
anywhere else.
This, however, was not the case with his companion. For a couple of
days the excitement attending Brien Boru was sufficient to fill Lord
Ballindine's mind; but after that, he could not help recurring to other
things. He was much in want of money, and had been civilly told by
his agent's managing clerk, before he left town, that there was some
difficulty in the way of his immediately getting the sum required. This
annoyed him, for he could not carry on the game without money. And
then, again, he was unhappy to be so near Fanny Wyndham, from day to
day, without seeing her. He was truly and earnestly attached to her,
and miserable at the threat which had been all but made by her
guardian, that the match should be broken off.
It was true that he had made up his mind not to go to Grey Abbey, as
long as he remained at Handicap Lodge, and, having made the resolution,
he thought he was wise in keeping it; but still, he continually felt
that she must be aware that he was in the neighbourhood, and could not
but be hurt at his apparent indifference. And then he knew that her
guardian would make use of his present employment--his sojourn at such
a den of sporting characters as his friend Blake's habitation--and his
continued absence from Grey Abbey though known to be in its vicinity,
as additional arguments for inducing his ward to declare the engagement
at an end.
These troubles annoyed him, and though he daily stood by and saw Brien
Boru go through his manoeuvres, he was discontented and fidgety.
He had been at Handicap Lodge about a fortnight, and was beginning to
feel anything but happy. His horse was to go over in another week,
money was not plentiful with him, and tradesmen were becoming obdurate
and persevering. His host, Blake, was not a soothing or a comfortable
friend, under these circumstances: he gave him a good deal of practical
advice, but he could not sympathise with him. Blake was a sharp, hard,
sensible man, who reduced everything to pounds shillings and pence.
Lord Ballindine was a man of feeling, and for the time, at least, a man
of pleasure; and, though they were, or thought themselves friends, they
did not pull well together; in fact, they bored each other terribly.
One morning, Lord Ballindine was riding out from the training-ground,
when he met, if not an old, at any rate an intimate acquaintance, named
Tierney. Mr or, as he was commonly called, Mat Tierney, was a bachelor,
about sixty years of age, who usually inhabited a lodge near the
Curragh; and who kept a horse or two on the turf, more for the sake of
the standing which it gave him in the society he liked best, than from
any intense love of the sport. He was a fat, jolly fellow, always
laughing, and usually in a good humour; he was very fond of what he
considered the world; and the world, at least that part of it which
knew him, returned the compliment.
"Well, my lord," said he, after a few minutes of got-up enthusiasm
respecting Brien Boru, "I congratulate you, sincerely."
"What about?" said Lord Ballindine.
"Why, I find you've got a first-rate horse, and I hear you've got rid
of a first-rate lady. You're very lucky, no doubt, in both; but I think
fortune has stood to you most, in the latter."
Lord Ballindine was petrified: he did not know what to reply. He was
aware that his engagement with Miss Wyndham was so public that Tierney
could allude to no other lady; but he could not conceive how any one
could have heard that his intended marriage was broken off--at any rate
how he could have heard it spoken of so publicly, as to induce him to
mention it in that sort of way, to himself. His first impulse was to be
very indignant; but he felt that no one would dream of quarrelling with
Mat Tierney; so he said, as soon as he was able to collect his thoughts
sufficiently,
"I was not aware of the second piece of luck, Mr Tierney. Pray who is
the lady?"
"Why, Miss Wyndham," said Mat, himself a little astonished at Lord
Ballindine's tone.
"I'm sure, Mr Tierney," said Frank, "you would say nothing,
particularly in connection with a lady's name, which you intended
either to be impertinent, or injurious. Were it not that I am quite
certain of this, I must own that what you have just said would appear
to be both."
"My dear lord," said the other, surprised and grieved, "I beg ten
thousand pardons, if I have unintentionally said anything, which you
feel to be either. But, surely, if I am not wrong in asking, the match
between you and Miss Wyndham is broken off?"
"May I ask you, Mr Tierney, who told you so?"
"Certainly--Lord Kilcullen; and, as he is Miss Wyndham's cousin, and
Lord Cashel's son, I could not but think the report authentic."
This overset Frank still more thoroughly. Lord Kilcullen would never
have spread the report publicly unless he had been authorised to do so
by Lord Cashel. Frank and Lord Kilcullen had never been intimate; and
the former was aware that the other had always been averse to the
proposed marriage; but still, he would never have openly declared that
the marriage was broken off, had he not had some authority for saying
so.
"As you seem somewhat surprised," continued Mat, seeing that Lord
Ballindine remained silent, and apparently at a loss for what he ought
to say, "perhaps I ought to tell you, that Lord Kilcullen mentioned
it last night very publicly--at a dinner-party, as an absolute fact.
Indeed, from his manner, I thought he wished it to be generally made
known. I presumed, therefore, that it had been mutually agreed between
you, that the event was not to come off--that the match was not to
be run; and, with my peculiar views, you know, on the subject of
matrimony, I thought it a fair point for congratulation. If Lord
Kilcullen had misled me, I heartily beg to apologise; and at the same
time, by giving you my authority, to show you that I could not intend
anything impertinent. If it suits you, you are quite at liberty to tell
Lord Kilcullen all I have told you; and, if you wish me to contradict
the report, which I must own I have spread, I will do so."
Frank felt that he could not be angry with Mat Tierney; he therefore
thanked him for his open explanation, and, merely muttering something
about private affairs not being worthy of public interest, rode off
towards Handicap Lodge.
It appeared very plain to him that the Grey Abbey family must have
discarded him--that Fanny Wyndham, Lord and Lady Cashel, and the whole
set, must have made up their minds to drop him altogether; otherwise,
one of the family would not have openly declared the match at an end.
And yet he was at a loss to conceive how they could have done so--how
even Lord Cashel could have reconciled it to himself to do so, without
the common-place courtesy of writing to him on the subject. And then,
when he thought of her, "his own Fanny," as he had so often called her,
he was still more bewildered: she, with whom he had sat for so many
sweet hours talking of the impossibility of their ever forgetting,
deserting, or even slighting each other; she, who had been so entirely
devoted to him--so much more than engaged to him--could she have lent
her name to such a heartless mode of breaking her faith?
"If I had merely proposed for her through her guardian," thought Frank,
to himself--"if I had got Lord Cashel to make the engagement, as many
men do, I should not be surprised; but after all that has passed
between us--after all her vows, and all her--" and then Lord Ballindine
struck his horse with his heel, and made a cut at the air with his
whip, as he remembered certain passages more binding even than
promises, warmer even than vows, which seemed to make him as miserable
now as they had made him happy at the time of their occurrence. "I
would not believe it," he continued, meditating, "if twenty Kilcullens
said it, or if fifty Mat Tierneys swore to it!" and then he rode on
towards the lodge, in a state of mind for which I am quite unable to
account, if his disbelief in Fanny Wyndham's constancy was really as
strong as he had declared it to be. And, as he rode, many unusual
thoughts--for, hitherto, Frank had not been a very deep-thinking
man--crowded his mind, as to the baseness, falsehood, and iniquity of
the human race, especially of rich cautious old peers who had beautiful
wards in their power.
By the time he had reached the lodge, he had determined that he must
now do something, and that, as he was quite unable to come to any
satisfactory conclusion on his own unassisted judgment, he must consult
Blake, who, by the bye, was nearly as sick of Fanny Wyndham as he would
have been had he himself been the person engaged to marry her.
As he rode round to the yard, he saw his friend standing at the door of
one of the stables, with a cigar in his mouth.
"Well, Frank, how does Brien go to-day? Not that he'll ever be the
thing till he gets to the other side of the water. They'll never be
able to bring a horse out as he should be, on the Curragh, till they've
regular trained gallops. The slightest frost in spring, or sun in
summer, and the ground's so hard, you might as well gallop your horse
down the pavement of Grafton Street."
"Confound the horse," answered Frank; "come here, Dot, a minute. I want
to speak to you."
"What the d----l's the matter?--he's not lame, is he?"
"Who?--what?--Brien Boru? Not that I know of. I wish the brute had
never been foaled."
"And why so? What crotchet have you got in your head now? Something
wrong about Fanny, I suppose?"
"Why, did you hear anything?"
"Nothing but what you've told me."
"I've just seen Mat Tierney, and he told me that Kilcullen had
declared, at a large dinner-party, yesterday, that the match between me
and his cousin was finally broken off."
"You wouldn't believe what Mat Tierney would say? Mat was only taking a
rise out of you."
"Not at all: he was not only speaking seriously, but he told me what
I'm very sure was the truth, as far as Lord Kilcullen was concerned. I
mean, I'm sure Kilcullen said it, and in the most public manner he
could; and now, the question is, what had I better do?"
"There's no doubt as to what you'd better do; the question is what
you'd rather do?"
"But what had I _better_ do? call on Kilcullen for an explanation?"
"That's the last thing to think of. No; but declare what he reports
to be the truth; return Miss Wyndham the lock of hair you have in your
desk, and next your heart, or wherever you keep it; write her a pretty
note, and conclude by saying that the 'Adriatic's free to wed
another'. That's what I should do."
"It's very odd, Blake, that you won't speak seriously to a man for a
moment. You've as much heart in you as one of your own horses. I wish
I'd never come to this cursed lodge of yours. I'd be all right then."
"As for my heart, Frank, if I have as much as my horses, I ought to be
contented--for race-horses are usually considered to have a good deal;
as for my cursed lodge, I can assure you I have endeavoured, and, if
you will allow me, I will still endeavour, to make it as agreeable to
you as I am able; and as to my speaking seriously, upon my word, I
never spoke more so. You asked me what I thought you had better do--and
I began by telling you there would be a great difference between that
and what you'd rather do."
"But, in heaven's name, why would you have me break off with Miss
Wyndham, when every one knows I'm engaged to her; and when you know
that I wish to marry her?"
"Firstly, to prevent her breaking off with you--though I fear there's
hardly time for that; and secondly, in consequence--as the newspapers
say, of incompatibility of temper."
"Why, you don't even know her!"
"But I know you, and I know what your joint income would be, and I
know that there would be great incompatibility between you, as Lord
Ballindine, with a wife and family--and fifteen hundred a year, or so.
But mind, I'm only telling you what I think you'd better do."
"Well, I shan't do that. If I was once settled down, I could live as
well on fifteen hundred a year as any country gentleman in Ireland.
It's only the interference of Lord Cashel that makes me determined
not to pull in till I am married. If he had let me have my own way, I
shouldn't, by this time, have had a horse in the world, except one or
two hunters or so, down in the country."
"Well, Frank, if you're determined to get yourself married, I'll give
you the best advice in my power as to the means of doing it. Isn't that
what you want?"
"I want to know what you think I ought to do, just at this minute."
"With matrimony as the winning-post?"
"You know I wish to marry Fanny Wyndham."
"And the sooner the better--is that it?"
"Of course. She'll be of age now, in a few days," replied Lord
Ballindine.
"Then I advise you to order a new blue coat, and to buy a
wedding-ring."
"Confusion!" cried Frank, stamping his foot; and turning away in a
passion; and then he took up his hat, to rush out of the room, in which
the latter part of the conversation had taken place.
"Stop a minute, Frank," said Blake, "and don't be in a passion. What I
said was only meant to show you how easy I think it is for you to marry
Miss Wyndham if you choose."
"Easy! and every soul at Grey Abbey turned against me, in consequence
of my owning that brute of a horse! I'll go over there at once, and
I'll show Lord Cashel that at any rate he shall not treat me like a
child. As for Kilcullen, if he interferes with me or my name in any
way, I'll--"
"You'll what?--thrash him?"
"Indeed, I'd like nothing better!"
"And then shoot him--be tried by your peers--and perhaps hung; is that
it?"
"Oh, that's nonsense. I don't wish to fight any one, but I am not
going to be insulted."
"I don't think you are: I don't think there's the least chance of
Kilcullen insulting you; he has too much worldly wisdom. But to come
back to Miss Wyndham: if you really mean to marry her, and if, as I
believe, she is really fond of you, Lord Cashel and all the family
can't prevent it. She is probably angry that you have not been over
there; he is probably irate at your staying here, and, not unlikely,
has made use of her own anger to make her think that she has quarrelled
with you; and hence Kilcullen's report."
"And what shall I do now?"
"Nothing to-day, but eat your dinner, and drink your wine. Ride over
to-morrow, see Lord Cashel, and tell him--but do it quite coolly, if
you can--exactly what you have heard, and how you have heard it, and
beg him to assure Lord Kilcullen that he is mistaken in his notion that
the match is off; and beg also that the report may not be repeated. Do
this; and do it as if you were Lord Cashel's equal, not as if you were
his son, or his servant. If you are collected and steady with him for
ten minutes, you'll soon find that he will become bothered and
unsteady."
"That's very easy to say here, but it's not so easy to do there. You
don't know him as I do: he's so sedate, and so slow, and so
dull--especially sitting alone, as he does of a morning, in that large,
dingy, uncomfortable, dusty-looking book-room of his. He measures his
words like senna and salts, and their tone is as disagreeable."
"Then do you drop out yours like prussic acid, and you'll beat him at
his own game. Those are all externals, my dear fellow. When a man knows
he has nothing within his head to trust to,--when he has neither sense
nor genius, he puts on a wig, ties up his neck in a white choker, sits
in a big chair, and frightens the world with his silence. Remember, if
you were not a baby, he would not be a bugbear."
"And should I not ask to see Fanny?"
"By all means. Don't leave Grey Abbey without seeing and making your
peace with Miss Wyndham. That'll be easy with you, because it's your
_métier_. I own that with myself it would be the most difficult part of
the morning's work. But don't ask to see her as a favour. When you've
done with the lord (and don't let your conference be very long)--when
you've done with the lord, tell him you'll say a word to the lady; and,
whatever may have been his pre-determination, you'll find that, if
you're cool, he'll be bothered, and he won't know how to refuse; and if
he doesn't prevent you, I'm sure Miss Wyndham won't."
"And if he asks about these wretched horses of mine?"
"Don't let him talk more about your affairs than you can help; but, if
he presses you--and he won't if you play your game well--tell him that
you're quite aware your income won't allow you to keep up an
establishment at the Curragh after you're married."
"But about Brien Boru, and the Derby?"
"Brien Boru! You might as well talk to him about your washing-bills!
Don't go into particulars--stick to generals. He'll never ask you those
questions unless he sees you shiver and shake like a half-whipped
school-boy."
After a great deal of confabulation, in which Dot Blake often repeated
his opinion of Lord Ballindine's folly in not rejoicing at an
opportunity of breaking off the match, it was determined that Frank
should ride over the next morning, and do exactly what his friend
proposed. If, however, one might judge from his apparent dread of the
interview with Lord Cashel, there was but little chance of his
conducting it with the coolness or assurance insisted on by Dot. The
probability was, that when the time did come, he would, as Blake said,
shiver and shake like a half-whipped school-boy.
"And what will you do when you're married, Frank?" said Blake; "for I'm
beginning to think the symptoms are strong, and you'll hardly get out
of it now."
"Do! why, I suppose I'll do much the same as others--have two children,
and live happy ever afterwards."
"I dare say you're right about the two children, only you might say two
dozen; but as to the living happy, that's more problematical. What do
you mean to eat and drink?"
"Eggs--potatoes and bacon--buttermilk, and potheen [21]. It's odd if I
can't get plenty of them in Mayo, if I've nothing better."
[FOOTNOTE 21: pootheen--illegal (untaxed) whiskey, "moonshine"]
"I suppose you will, Frank; but bacon won't go down well after venison;
and a course of claret is a bad preparative for potheen punch. You're
not the man to live, with a family, on a small income, and what the
d----l you'll do I don't know. You'll fortify Kelly's Court--that'll be
the first step."
"Is it against the Repealers?"
"Faith, no; you'll join them, of course: but against the sub-sheriff,
and his officers--an army much more likely to crown their enterprises
with success."
"You seem to forget, Dot, that, after all, I'm marrying a girl with
quite as large a fortune as I had any right to expect."
"The limit to your expectations was only in your own modesty; the
less you had a right--in the common parlance--to expect, the more
you wanted, and the more you ought to have looked for. Say that Miss
Wyndham's fortune clears a thousand a year of your property, you would
never be able to get along on what you'd have. No; I'll tell you what
you'll do. You'll shut up Kelly's Court, raise the rents, take a
moderate house in London; and Lord Cashel, when his party are in, will
get you made a court stick of, and you'll lead just such a life as your
grandfather. If it's not very glorious, at any rate it's a useful
kind of life. I hope Miss Wyndham will like it. You'll have to christen
your children Ernest and Albert, and that sort of thing; that's the
worst of it; and you'll never be let to sit down, and that's a bore.
But you've strong legs. It would never do for me. I could never stand
out a long tragedy in Drury Lane, with my neck in a stiff white choker,
and my toes screwed into tight dress boots. I'd sooner be a porter
myself, for he can go to bed when the day's over."
"You're very witty, Dot; but you know I'm the last man in Ireland, not
excepting yourself, to put up with that kind of thing. Whatever I may
have to live on, I shall live in my own country, and on my own
property."
"Very well; if you won't be a gold stick, there's the other
alternative: fortify Kelly's Court, and prepare for the sheriff's
officers. Of the two, there's certainly more fun in it; and you can go
out with the harriers on a Sunday afternoon, and live like a 'ra'al
O'Kelly of the ould times';--only the punch'll kill you in about ten
years."
"Go on, Dot, go on. You want to provoke me, but you won't. I wonder
whether you'd bear it as well, if I told you you'd die a broken-down
black-leg, without a friend or a shilling to bless you."
"I don't think I should, because I should know that you were
threatening me with a fate which my conduct and line of life would not
warrant any one in expecting."
"Upon my word, then, I think there's quite as much chance of that as
there is of my getting shut up by bailiffs in Kelly's Court, and dying
drunk. I'll bet you fifty pounds I've a better account at my bankers
than you have in ten years."
"Faith, I'll not take it. It'll be hard work getting fifty pounds out
of you, then! In the meantime, come and play a game of billiards before
dinner."
To this Lord Ballindine consented, and they adjourned to the
billiard-room; but, before they commenced playing, Blake declared that
if the names of Lord Cashel or Miss Wyndham were mentioned again that
evening, he should retreat to his own room, and spend the hours by
himself; so, for the rest of that day, Lord Ballindine was again driven
back upon Brien Boru and the Derby for conversation, as Dot was too
close about his own stable to talk much of his own horses and their
performances, except when he was doing so with an eye to business.
XI. THE EARL OF CASHEL
About two o'clock on the following morning, Lord Ballindine set off for
Grey Abbey, on horseback, dressed with something more than ordinary
care, and with a considerable palpitation about his heart. He hardly
knew, himself, what or whom he feared, but he knew that he was afraid
of something. He had a cold, sinking sensation within him, and he felt
absolutely certain that he should be signally defeated in his present
mission. He had plenty of what is usually called courage; had his
friend recommended him instantly to call out Lord Kilcullen and shoot
him, and afterwards any number of other young men who might express a
thought in opposition to his claim on Miss Wyndham's hand, he would
have set about it with the greatest readiness and aptitude; but he knew
he could not baffle the appalling solemnity of Lord Cashel, in his own
study. Frank was not so very weak a man as he would appear to be when
in the society of Blake. He unfortunately allowed Blake to think for
him in many things, and he found a convenience in having some one to
tell him what to do; but he was, in most respects, a better, and in
some, even a wiser man than his friend. He often felt that the kind of
life he was leading--contracting debts which he could not pay, and
spending his time in pursuits which were not really congenial to him,
was unsatisfactory and discreditable: and it was this very feeling, and
the inability to defend that which he knew to be wrong and foolish,
which made him so certain that he would not be able successfully to
persist in his claim to Miss Wyndham's hand in opposition to the trite
and well-weighed objections, which he knew her guardian would put
forward. He consoled himself, however, with thinking that, at any rate,
they could not prevent his seeing her; and he was quite sanguine as to
her forgiveness, if he but got a fair opportunity of asking it. And
when that was obtained, why should the care for any one? Fanny would be
of age, and her own mistress, in a few days, and all the solemn earls
in England, and Ireland too, could not then prevent her marrying whom
and when she liked.
He thought a great deal on all his friend had said to his future
poverty; but then, his ideas and Blake's were very different about
life. Blake's idea of happiness was, the concentrating of every thing
into a focus for his own enjoyment; whereas he, Frank, had only had
recourse to dissipation and extravagance, because he had nothing to
make home pleasant to him. If he once had Fanny Wyndham installed as
Lady Ballindine, at Kelly's Court, he was sure he could do his duty as
a country gentleman, and live on his income, be it what it might, not
only without grumbling, but without wishing for anything more. He
was fond of his country, his name, and his countrymen: he was fully
convinced of his folly in buying race-horses, and in allowing himself
to be dragged on the turf: he would sell Brien Boru, and the other two
Irish chieftains, for what they would fetch, and show Fanny and her
guardian that he was in earnest in his intention of reforming. Blake
might laugh at him if he liked; but he would not stay to be laughed
at. He felt that Handicap Lodge was no place for him; and besides, why
should he bear Dot's disagreeable sarcasms? It was not the part of a
real friend to say such cutting things as he continually did. After
all, Lord Cashel would be a safer friend, or, at any rate, adviser;
and, instead of trying to defeat him by coolness or insolence, he would
at once tell him of all his intentions, explain to him exactly how
matters stood, and prove his good resolutions by offering to take
whatever steps the earl might recommend about the horses. This final
determination made him easier in this mind, and, as he entered the
gates of Grey Abbey Park, he was tolerably comfortable, trusting to his
own good resolutions, and the effect which he felt certain the
expression of them must have on Lord Cashel.
Grey Abbey is one of the largest but by no means one of the most
picturesque demesnes in Ireland. It is situated in the county of
Kildare, about two miles from the little town of Kilcullen, in a
flat, uninteresting, and not very fertile country. The park itself is
extensive and tolerably well wooded, but it wants water and undulation,
and is deficient of any object of attraction, except that of size and
not very magnificent timber. I suppose, years ago, there was an Abbey
here, or near the spot, but there is now no vestige of it remaining. In
a corner of the demesne there are standing the remains of one of those
strong, square, ugly castles, which, two centuries since, were the real
habitations of the landed proprietors of the country, and many of which
have been inhabited even to a much later date. They now afford the
strongest record of the apparently miserable state of life which even
the favoured of the land then endured, and of the numberless domestic
comforts which years and skill have given us, apt as we are to look
back with fond regret to the happy, by-gone days of past periods.
This old castle, now used as a cow-shed, is the only record of
antiquity at Grey Abbey; and yet the ancient family of the Greys have
lived there for centuries. The first of them who possessed property in
Ireland, obtained in the reign of Henry II, grants of immense tracts of
land, stretching through Wicklow, Kildare, and the Queen's and King's
Counties; and, although his descendants have been unable to retain,
through the various successive convulsions which have taken place in
the interior of Ireland since that time, anything like an eighth of
what the family once pretended to claim, the Earl of Cashel, their
present representative, has enough left to enable him to consider
himself a very great man.
The present mansion, built on the site of that in which the family had
lived till about seventy years since, is, like the grounds, large,
commodious, and uninteresting. It is built of stone, which appears as
if it had been plastered over, is three stories high, and the windows
are all of the same size, and at regular intervals. The body of the
house looks like a huge, square, Dutch old lady, and the two wings
might be taken for her two equally fat, square, Dutch daughters.
Inside, the furniture is good, strong, and plain. There are plenty of
drawing-rooms, sitting-rooms, bed-rooms, and offices; a small gallery
of very indifferent paintings, and a kitchen, with an excellent
kitchen-range, and patent boilers of every shape.
Considering the nature of the attractions, it is somewhat strange that
Lord Cashel should have considered it necessary to make it generally
known that the park might be seen any day between the hours of nine and
six, and the house, on Tuesdays and Fridays between the hours of eleven
and four. Yet such is the case, and the strangeness of this proceeding
on his part is a good deal diminished by the fact that persons,
either induced by Lord Cashel's good nature, or thinking that any big
house must be worth seeing, very frequently pay half-a-crown to the
housekeeper for the privilege of being dragged through every room in
the mansion.
There is a bed there, in which the Regent slept when in Ireland, and a
room which was tenanted by Lord Normanby, when Lord Lieutenant. There
is, moreover, a satin counterpane, which was made by the lord's aunt,
and a snuff-box which was given to the lord's grandfather by Frederick
the Great. These are the lions of the place, and the gratification
experienced by those who see them is, no doubt, great; but I doubt if
it equals the annoyance and misery to which they are subjected in being
obliged to pass one unopened door--that of the private room of Lady
Selina, the only daughter of the earl at present unmarried.
It contains only a bed, and the usual instruments of a lady's toilet;
but Lady Selina does not choose to have it shown, and it has become
invested, in the eyes of the visitors, with no ordinary mystery. Many a
petitionary whisper is addressed to the housekeeper on the subject, but
in vain; and, consequently, the public too often leave Grey Abbey
dissatisfied.
As Lord Ballindine rode through the gates, and up the long approach
to the house, he was so satisfied of the wisdom of his own final
resolution, and of the successful termination of his embassy under such
circumstances, that he felt relieved of the uncomfortable sensation of
fear which had oppressed him; and it was only when the six-foot high,
powdered servant told him, with a very solemn face, that the earl was
alone in the book-room--the odious room he hated so much--that he began
again to feel a little misgiving. However, there was nothing left
for him now, so he gave up his horse to the groom, and followed the
sober-faced servant into the book-room.
Lord Cashel was a man about sixty-three, with considerable external
dignity of appearance, though without any personal advantage, either in
face, figure, or manner. He had been an earl, with a large income, for
thirty years; and in that time he had learned to look collected, even
when his ideas were confused; to keep his eye steady, and to make a few
words go a long way. He had never been intemperate, and was, therefore,
strong and hale for his years,--he had not done many glaringly foolish
things, and, therefore, had a character for wisdom and judgment. He had
run away with no man's wife, and, since his marriage, had seduced no
man's daughter; he was, therefore, considered a moral man. He was not
so deeply in debt as to have his affairs known to every one; and hence
was thought prudent. And, as he lived in his own house, with his own
wife, paid his servants and labourers their wages regularly, and nodded
in church for two hours every Sunday, he was thought a good man. Such
were his virtues; and by these negative qualities--this _vis inertiæ_,
he had acquired, and maintained, a considerable influence in the
country.
When Lord Ballindine's name was announced, he slowly rose, and, just
touching the tip of Frank's fingers, by way of shaking hands with him,
hoped he had the pleasure of seeing him well.
The viscount hoped the same of the earl--and of the ladies. This
included the countess and Lady Selina, as well as Fanny, and was,
therefore, not a particular question; but, having hoped this, and the
earl remaining silent, he got confused, turned red, hummed and hawed
a little, sat down, and then, endeavouring to drown his confusion in
volubility, began talking quickly about his anxiety to make final
arrangements concerning matters, which, of course, he had most deeply
at heart; and, at last, ran himself fairly aground, from not knowing
whether, under the present circumstances, he ought to speak of his
affianced to her guardian as "Fanny", or "Miss Wyndham".
When he had quite done, and was dead silent, and had paused
sufficiently long to assure the earl that he was going to say nothing
further just at present, the great man commenced his answer.
"This is a painful subject, my lord--most peculiarly painful at the
present time; but, surely, after all that has passed--but especially
after what has _not_ passed"--Lord Cashel thought this was a dead
hit--"you cannot consider your engagement with Miss Wyndham to be still
in force?"
"Good gracious!--and why not, my lord? I am ready to do anything her
friends--in fact I came solely, this morning, to consult yourself,
about--I'm sure Fanny herself can't conceive the engagement to
be broken off. Of course, if Miss Wyndham wishes it--but I can't
believe--I can't believe--if it's about the horses, Lord Cashel, upon
my word, I'm ready to sell them to-day."
This was not very dignified in poor Frank, and to tell the truth, he
was completely bothered. Lord Cashel looked so more than ordinarily
glum; had he been going to put on a black cap and pass sentence of
death, or disinherit his eldest son, he could not have looked more
stern or more important. Frank's lack of dignity added to his, and made
him feel immeasurably superior to any little difficulty which another
person might have felt in making the communication he was going to
make. He was really quite in a solemn good humour. Lord Ballindine's
confusion was so flattering.
"I can assure you, my lord, Miss Wyndham calls for no such sacrifice,
nor do I. There was a time when, as her guardian, I ventured to
hint--and I own I was taking a liberty, a fruitless liberty, in doing
so--that I thought your remaining on the turf was hardly prudent.
But I can assure you, with all kindly feeling--with no approach to
animosity--that I will not offend in a similar way again. I hear,
by mere rumour, that you have extended your operations to the other
kingdom. I hope I have not been the means of inducing you to do so;
but, advice, if not complied with, often gives a bias in an opposite
direction. With regard to Miss Wyndham, I must express--and I really
had thought it was unnecessary to do so, though it was certainly my
intention, as it was Miss Wyndham's wish, that I should have written
to you formally on the subject--but your own conduct--excuse me, Lord
Ballindine--your own evident indifference, and continued, I fear I must
call it, dissipation--and your, as I considered, unfortunate selection
of acquaintance, combined with the necessary diminution of that
attachment which I presume Miss Wyndham once felt for you--necessary,
inasmuch as it was, as far as I understand, never of a sufficiently
ardent nature to outlive the slights--indeed, my lord, I don't wish to
offend you, or hurt your feelings--but, I must say, the slights which
it encountered--." Here the earl felt that his sentence was a little
confused, but the viscount looked more so; and, therefore, not at
all abashed by the want of a finish to his original proposition, he
continued glibly enough:
"In short, in considering all the features of the case, I thought
the proposed marriage a most imprudent one; and, on questioning Miss
Wyndham as to her feelings, I was, I must own, gratified to learn that
she agreed with me; indeed, she conceived that your conduct gave ample
proof, my lord, of your readiness to be absolved from your engagement;
pardon me a moment, my lord--as I said before, I still deemed it
incumbent on me, and on my ward, that I, as her guardian, should give
you an absolute and written explanation of her feelings:--that would
have been done yesterday, and this most unpleasant meeting would have
been spared to both of us, but for the unexpected--Did you hear of the
occurrence which has happened in Miss Wyndham's family, my lord?"
"Occurrence? No, Lord Cashel; I did not hear of any especial
occurrence."
There had been a peculiarly solemn air about Lord Cashel during the
whole of the interview, which deepened into quite funereal gloom as he
asked the last question; but he was so uniformly solemn, that this had
not struck Lord Ballindine. Besides, an appearance of solemnity agreed
so well with Lord Cashel's cast of features and tone of voice, that a
visage more lengthened, and a speech somewhat slower than usual, served
only to show him off as so much the more clearly identified by his own
characteristics. Thus a man who always wears a green coat does not
become remarkable by a new green coat; he is only so much the more than
ever, the man in the green coat.
Lord Ballindine, therefore, answered the question without the
appearance of that surprise which Lord Cashel expected he would feel,
if he had really not yet heard of the occurrence about to be related to
him. The earl, therefore, made up his mind, as indeed he had nearly
done before, that Frank knew well what was going to be told him, though
it suited his purpose to conceal his knowledge. He could not, however,
give his young brother nobleman the lie; and he was, therefore,
constrained to tell his tale, as if to one to whom it was unknown. He
was determined, however, though he could not speak out plainly, to let
Frank see that he was not deceived by his hypocrisy, and that he, Lord
Cashel, was well aware, not only that the event about to be told had
been known at Handicap Lodge, but that the viscount's present visit to
Grey Abbey had arisen out of that knowledge.
Lord Ballindine, up to this moment, was perfectly ignorant of this
event, and it is only doing justice to him to say that, had he heard of
it, it would at least have induced him to postpone his visit for some
time. Lord Cashel paused for a few moments, looking at Frank in a most
diplomatic manner, and then proceeded to unfold his budget.
"I am much surprised that you should not have heard of it. The
distressing news reached Grey Abbey yesterday, and must have been well
known in different circles in Dublin yesterday morning. Considering the
great intercourse between Dublin and the Curragh, I wonder you can have
been left so long in ignorance of a circumstance so likely to be widely
discussed, and which at one time might have so strongly affected your
own interests." Lord Cashel again paused, and looked hard at Frank. He
flattered himself that he was reading his thoughts; but he looked as if
he had detected a spot on the other's collar, and wanted to see whether
it was ink or soot.
Lord Ballindine was, however, confounded. When the earl spoke of
"a circumstance so likely to be widely discussed", Mat Tierney's
conversation recurred to him, and Lord Kilcullen's public declaration
that Fanny Wyndham's match was off.--It was certainly odd for Lord
Cashel to call this an occurrence in Miss Wyndham's family, but then,
he had a round-about way of saying everything.
"I say," continued the earl, after a short pause, "that I cannot but be
surprised that an event of so much importance, of so painful a nature,
and, doubtless, already so publicly known, should not before this have
reached the ears of one to whom, I presume, Miss Wyndham's name was not
always wholly indifferent. But, as you have not heard it, my lord, I
will communicate it to you," and again he paused, as though expecting
another assurance of Lord Ballindine's ignorance.
"Why, my lord," said Frank, "I did hear a rumour, which surprised me
very much, but I could not suppose it to be true. To tell the truth, it
was very much in consequence of what I heard that I came to Grey Abbey
to-day."
It was now Lord Cashel's turn to be confounded. First, to deny that he
had heard anything about it--and then immediately to own that he had
heard it, and had been induced to renew his visits to Grey Abbey in
consequence! Just what he, in his wisdom, had suspected was the case.
But how could Lord Ballindine have the face to own it?
I must, however, tell the reader the event of which Frank was ignorant,
and which, it appears, Lord Cashel is determined not to communicate to
him.
Fanny Wyndham's father had held a governorship, or some golden
appointment in the golden days of India, and consequently had died
rich. He left eighty thousand pounds to his son, who was younger than
Fanny, and twenty to his daughter. His son had lately been put into the
Guards, but he was not long spared to enjoy his sword and his uniform.
He died, and his death had put his sister in possession of his money;
and Lord Cashel thought that, though Frank might slight twenty thousand
pounds, he would be too glad to be allowed to remain the accepted
admirer of a hundred thousand.
"I thought you must have heard it, my lord," resumed the senior, as
soon as he had collected his shreds of dignity, which Frank's open
avowal had somewhat scattered, "I felt certain you must have heard it,
and you will, I am sure, perceive that this is no time for you--excuse
me if I use a word which may appear harsh--it is no time for any one,
not intimately connected with Miss Wyndham by ties of family, to
intrude upon her sorrow."
Frank was completely bothered. He thought that if she were so
sorrowful, if she grieved so deeply at the match being broken off, that
was just the reason why he should see her. After all, it was rather
flattering to himself to hear of her sorrows; dear Fanny! was she so
grieved that she was forced to part from him?
"But, Lord Cashel," he said, "I am ready to do whatever you please.
I'll take any steps you'll advise. But I really cannot see why I'm to
be told that the engagement between me and Miss Wyndham is off, without
hearing any reason from herself. I'll make any sacrifice you please, or
she requires; I'm sure she was attached to me, and she cannot have
overcome that affection so soon."
"I have already said that we require--Miss Wyndham requires--no
sacrifice from you. The time for sacrifice is past; and I do not think
her affection was of such a nature as will long prey on her spirits."
"My affection for her is, I can assure you--"
"Pray excuse me--but I think this is hardly the time either to talk of,
or to show, your affection. Had it been proved to be of a lasting, I
fear I must say, a sincere nature, it would now have been most valued.
I will leave yourself to say whether this was the case."
"And so you mean to say, Lord Cashel, that I cannot see Miss Wyndham?"
"Assuredly, Lord Ballindine. And I must own, that I hardly appreciate
your delicacy in asking to do so at the present moment."
There was something very hard in this. The match was to be broken off
without any notice to him; and when he requested, at any rate, to hear
this decision from the mouth of the only person competent to make it,
he was told that it was indelicate for him to wish to do so. This put
his back up.
"Well, my lord," he said with some spirit, "Miss Wyndham is at present
your ward, and in your house, and I am obliged to postpone the exercise
of the right, to which, at least, I am entitled, of hearing her
decision from her own mouth. I cannot think that she expects I should
be satisfied with such an answer as I have now received. I shall write
to her this evening, and shall expect at any rate the courtesy of an
answer from herself."
"My advice to my ward will be, not to write to you; at any rate for the
present. I presume, my lord, you cannot doubt my word that Miss Wyndham
chooses to be released from an engagement, which I must say your own
conduct renders it highly inexpedient for her to keep."
"I don't doubt your word, of course, Lord Cashel; but such being the
case, I think Miss Wyndham might at least tell me so herself."
"I should have thought, Lord Ballindine, that you would have felt
that the sudden news of a dearly loved brother's death, was more than
sufficient to excuse Miss Wyndham from undergoing an interview which,
even under ordinary circumstances, would be of very doubtful
expediency."
"Her brother's death! Good gracious! Is Harry Wyndham dead!"
Frank was so truly surprised--so effectually startled by the news,
which he now for the first time heard, that, had his companion
possessed any real knowledge of human nature, he would at once have
seen that his astonishment was not affected. But he had none, and,
therefore, went on blundering in his own pompous manner.
"Yes, my lord, he is dead. I understood you to say that you had already
heard it; and, unless my ears deceived me, you explained that his
demise was the immediate cause of your present visit. I cannot,
however, go so far as to say that I think you have exercised a sound
discretion in the matter. In expressing such an opinion, however, I am
far from wishing to utter anything which may be irritating or offensive
to your feelings."
"Upon my word then, I never heard a word about it till this moment!
Poor Harry! And is Fanny much cut up?"
"Miss Wyndham is much afflicted."
"I wouldn't for worlds annoy her, or press on her at such a moment.
Pray tell her, Lord Cashel, how deeply I feel her sorrows: pray tell
her this, with my kindest--best compliments."
This termination was very cold--but so was Lord Cashel's face. His
lordship had also risen from his chair; and Frank saw it was intended
that the interview should end. But he would now have been glad to stay.
He wanted to ask a hundred questions;--how the poor lad had died?
whether he had been long ill?--whether it had been expected? But he saw
that he must go; so he rose and putting out his hand which Lord Cashel
just touched, he said,
"Good bye, my lord. I trust, after a few months are gone by, you may
see reason to alter the opinion you have expressed respecting your
ward. Should I not hear from you before then, I shall again do myself
the honour of calling at Grey Abbey; but I will write to Miss Wyndham
before I do so."
Lord Cashel had the honour of wishing Lord Ballindine a very good
morning, and of bowing him to the door; and so the interview ended.
XII. FANNY WYNDHAM
When Lord Cashel had seen Frank over the mat which lay outside his
study door, and that there was a six foot servitor to open any other
door through which he might have to pass, he returned to his seat, and,
drawing his chair close to the fire, began to speculate on Fanny and
her discarded lover.
He was very well satisfied with himself, and with his own judgment and
firmness in the late conversation. It was very evident that Frank had
heard of Harry Wyndham's death, and of Fanny's great accession of
wealth; that he had immediately determined that the heiress was no
longer to be neglected, and that he ought to strike while the iron was
hot: hence his visit to Grey Abbey. His pretended ignorance of the
young man's death, when he found he could not see Miss Wyndham, was a
ruse; but an old bird like Lord Cashel was not to be caught with chaff.
And then, how indelicate of him to come and press his suit immediately
after news of so distressing a nature had reached Miss Wyndham! How
very impolitic, thought Lord Cashel, to show such a hurry to take
possession of the fortune!--How completely he had destroyed his own
game. And then, other thoughts passed through his mind. His ward had
now one hundred thousand pounds clear, which was, certainly, a great
deal of ready money. Lord Cashel had no younger sons; but his heir,
Lord Kilcullen, was an expensive man, and owed, he did not exactly
know, and was always afraid to ask, how much. He must marry soon, or he
would be sure to go to the devil. He had been living with actresses and
opera-dancers quite long enough for his own respectability; and, if he
ever intended to be such a pattern to the country as his father, it was
now time for him to settle down. And Lord Cashel bethought himself that
if he could persuade his son to marry Fanny Wyndham and pay his debts
with her fortune--(surely he couldn't owe more than a hundred thousand
pounds?)--he would be able to give them a very handsome allowance to
live on.
To do Lord Cashel justice, we must say that he had fully determined
that it was his duty to break off the match between Frank and his ward,
before he heard of the accident which had so enriched her. And Fanny
herself, feeling slighted and neglected--knowing how near to her her
lover was, and that nevertheless he never came to see her--hearing
his name constantly mentioned in connection merely with horses and
jockeys--had been induced to express her acquiescence in her guardian's
views, and to throw poor Frank overboard. In all this the earl had been
actuated by no mercenary views, as far as his own immediate family was
concerned. He had truly and justly thought that Lord Ballindine, with
his limited fortune and dissipated habits, was a bad match for his
ward; and he had, consequently, done his best to break the engagement.
There could, therefore, he thought, be nothing unfair in his taking
advantage of the prudence which he had exercised on her behalf. He
did not know, when he was persuading her to renounce Lord Ballindine,
that, at that moment, her young, rich, and only brother, was lying
at the point of death. He had not done it for his own sake, or Lord
Kilcullen's; there could, therefore, be nothing unjust or ungenerous in
their turning to their own account the two losses, that of her lover
and her brother, which had fallen on Miss Wyndham at the same time. If
he, as her guardian, would have been wrong to allow Lord Ballindine to
squander her twenty thousands, he would be so much the more wrong to
let him make ducks and drakes of five times as much. In this manner he
quieted his conscience as to his premeditated absorption of his ward's
fortune. It was true that Lord Kilcullen was a heartless roué, whereas
Lord Ballindine was only a thoughtless rake; but then, Lord Kilcullen
would be an earl, and a peer of parliament, and Lord Ballindine was
only an Irish viscount. It was true that, in spite of her present
anger, Fanny dearly loved Lord Ballindine, and was dearly loved by him;
and that Lord Kilcullen was not a man to love or be loved; but then,
the Kelly's Court rents--what were they to the Grey Abbey rents? Not
a twentieth part of them! And, above all, Lord Kilcullen's vices were
filtered through the cleansing medium of his father's partiality, and
Lord Ballindine's faults were magnified by the cautious scruples of
Fanny's guardian.
The old man settled, therefore, in his own mind, that Fanny should be
his dear daughter, and the only difficulty he expected to encounter was
with his hopeful son. It did not occur to him that Fanny might object,
or that she could be other than pleased with the arrangement. He
determined, however, to wait a little before the tidings of her future
destiny should be conveyed to her, although no time was to be lost in
talking over the matter with Lord Kilcullen. In the meantime, it would
be necessary for him to tell Fanny of Lord Ballindine's visit; and
the wily peer was glad to think that she could not but be further
disgusted at the hurry which her former lover had shown to renew his
protestations of affection, as soon as the tidings of her wealth had
reached him. However, he would say nothing on that head: he would
merely tell her that Lord Ballindine had called, had asked to see her,
and had been informed of her determination to see him no more.
He sat, for a considerable time, musing over the fire, and
strengthening his resolution; and then he stalked and strutted into the
drawing-room, where the ladies were sitting, to make his communication
to Miss Wyndham.
Miss Wyndham, and her cousin, Lady Selina Grey, the only unmarried
daughter left on the earl's hands, were together. Lady Selina was not
in her _première jeunesse_ [22], and, in manner, face, and disposition,
was something like her father: she was not, therefore, very charming;
but his faults were softened down in her; and what was pretence in
him, was, to a certain degree, real in her. She had a most exaggerated
conception of her own station and dignity, and of what was due to her,
and expected from her. Because her rank enabled her to walk out of a
room before other women, she fancied herself better than them, and
entitled to be thought better. She was plain, red-haired, and in no
ways attractive; but she had refused the offer of a respectable country
gentleman, because he was only a country gentleman, and then flattered
herself that she owned the continuance of her maiden condition to her
high station, which made her a fit match only for the most exalted
magnates of the land. But she was true, industrious, and charitable;
she worked hard to bring her acquirements to that pitch which she
considered necessary to render her fit for her position; she truly
loved her family, and tried hard to love her neighbours, in which she
might have succeeded but for the immeasurable height from which she
looked down on them. She listened, complacently, to all those serious
cautions against pride, which her religion taught her, and considered
that she was obeying its warnings, when she spoke condescendingly to
those around her. She thought that condescension was humility, and that
her self-exaltation was not pride, but a proper feeling of her own and
her family's dignity.
[FOOTNOTE 22: première jeunesse--(French) prime of youth]
Fanny Wyndham was a very different creature. She, too, was proud, but
her pride was of another, if not of a less innocent cast; she was proud
of her own position; but it was as Fanny Wyndham, not as Lord Cashel's
niece, or anybody's daughter. She had been brought out in the
fashionable world, and liked, and was liked by, it; but she felt that
she owed the character which three years had given her, to herself, and
not to those around her. She stood as high as Lady Selina, though on
very different grounds. Any undue familiarity would have been quite as
impossible with one as with the other. Lady Selina chilled intruders to
a distance; Fanny Wyndham's light burned with so warm a flame, that
butterflies were afraid to trust their wings within its reach. She was
neither so well read, nor so thoughtful on what she did read, as her
friend; but she could turn what she learned to more account, for the
benefit of others. The one, in fact, could please, and the other could
not.
Fanny Wyndham was above the usual height; but she did not look tall,
for her figure was well-formed and round, and her bust full. She had
dark-brown hair, which was never curled, but worn in plain braids,
fastened at the back of her head, together with the long rich folds
which were collected there under a simple comb. Her forehead was high,
and beautifully formed, and when she spoke, showed the animation of her
character. Her eyes were full and round, of a hazel colour, bright and
soft when she was pleased, but full of pride and displeasure when her
temper was ruffled, or her dignity offended. Her nose was slightly
_retroussé_ [23], but not so much so as to give to her that pertness,
of which it is usually the index. The line of her cheeks and chin
was very lovely: it was this which encouraged her to comb back that
luxuriant hair, and which gave the greatest charm to her face. Her
mouth was large, too large for a beauty, and therefore she was not a
regular beauty; but, were she talking to you, and willing to please
you, you could hardly wish it to be less. I cannot describe the shade
of her complexion, but it was rich and glowing; and, though she was not
a brunette, I believe that in painting her portrait, an artist would
have mixed more brown than other colours.
[FOOTNOTE 23: retroussé--(French) turned-up]
At the time of which I am now speaking, she was sitting, or rather
lying, on a sofa, with her face turned towards her cousin, but her eyes
fixed on vacancy. As might have been expected, she was thinking of her
brother, and his sudden death; but other subjects crowded with that
into her mind, and another figure shared with him her thoughts. She had
been induced to give her guardian an unqualified permission to reject,
in her name, any further intercourse with Frank; and though she had
doubtless been induced to do so by the distressing consciousness that
she had been slighted by him, she had cheated herself into the belief
that prudence had induced her to do so. She felt that she was not
fitted to be a poor man's wife, and that Lord Ballindine was as ill
suited for matrimonial poverty. She had, therefore, induced herself to
give him up; may-be she was afraid that if she delayed doing so, she
might herself be given up. Now, however, the case was altered; though
she sincerely grieved for her brother, she could not but recollect the
difference which his death made in her own position; she was now a
great heiress, and, were she to marry Lord Ballindine, if she did
not make him a rich man, she would, at any rate, free him from all
embarrassment.
Besides, could she give him up now? now that she was rich? He would
first hear of her brother's death and her wealth, and then would
immediately be told that she had resolved to reject him. Could she bear
that she should be subjected to the construction which would fairly be
put upon her conduct, if she acted in this manner? And then, again, she
felt that she loved him; and she did love him, more dearly than she
was herself aware. She began to repent of her easy submission to her
guardian's advice, and to think how she could best unsay what she had
already said. She had lost her brother; could she afford also to lose
her lover? She had had none she could really love but those two. And
the tears again came to her eyes, and Lady Selina saw her, for the
twentieth time that morning, turn her face to the back of the sofa,
and heard her sob.
Lady Selina was sitting at one of the windows, over her carpet-work
frame. She had talked a great deal of sound sense to Fanny that
morning, about her brother, and now prepared to talk some more.
Preparatory to this, she threw back her long red curls from her face,
and wiped her red nose, for it was February.
"Fanny, you should occupy yourself, indeed you should, my dear. It's no
use your attempting your embroidery, for your mind would still wander
to him that is no more. You should read; indeed you should. Do go on
with Gibbon. I'll fetch it for you, only tell me where you were."
"I could not read, Selina; I could not think about what I read, more
than about the work."
"But you should try, Fanny,--the very attempt would be work to your
mind: besides, you would be doing your duty. Could all your tears bring
him back to you? Can all your sorrow again restore him to his friends?
No! and you have great consolation, Fanny, in reflecting that your
remembrance of your brother is mixed with no alloy. He had not lived
to be contaminated by the heartless vices of that portion of the
world into which he would probably have been thrown; he had not
become dissipated--extravagant--and sensual. This should be a great
consolation to you."
It might be thought that Lady Selina was making sarcastic allusions
to her own brother and to Fanny's lover; but she meant nothing of the
kind. Her remarks were intended to be sensible, true, and consolatory;
and they at any rate did no harm, for Fanny was thinking of something
else before she had half finished her speech.
They had both again been silent for a short time, when the door opened,
and in came the earl. His usual pomposity of demeanour was somewhat
softened by a lachrymose air, which, in respect to his ward's grief, he
put on as he turned the handle of the door; and he walked somewhat more
gently than usual into the room.
"Well, Fanny, how are you now?" he said, as he crept up to her. "You
shouldn't brood over these sad thoughts. Your poor brother has gone to
a better world; we shall always think of him as one who had felt no
sorrow, and been guilty of but few faults. He died before he had wasted
his fortune and health, as he might have done:--this will always be a
consolation."
It was singular how nearly alike were the platitudes of the daughter
and the father. The young man had not injured his name, or character,
in the world, and had left his money behind him: and, therefore, his
death was less grievous!
Fanny did not answer, but she sat upright on the sofa as he came up to
her--and he then sat down beside her.
"Perhaps I'm wrong, Fanny, to speak to you on other subjects so soon
after the sad event of which we heard last night; but, on the whole,
I think it better to do so. It is good for you to rouse yourself, to
exert yourself to think of other things; besides it will be a comfort
to you to know that I have already done, what I am sure you strongly
wished to have executed at once."
It was not necessary for the guardian to say anything further to induce
his ward to listen. She knew that he was going to speak about Lord
Ballindine, and she was all attention.
"I shall not trouble, you, Fanny, by speaking to you now, I hope?"
"No;" said Fanny, with her heart palpitating. "If it's anything I ought
to hear, it will be no trouble to me."
"Why, my dear, I do think you ought to know, without loss of time that
Lord Ballindine has been with me this morning."
Fanny blushed up to her hair--not with shame, but with emotion as to
what was coming next.
"I have had a long conversation with him," continued the earl, "in the
book-room, and I think I have convinced him that it is for your mutual
happiness"--he paused, for he couldn't condescend to tell a lie; but in
his glib, speechifying manner, he was nearly falling into one--"mutual
happiness" was such an appropriate prudential phrase that he could not
resist the temptation; but he corrected himself--"at least, I think I
have convinced him that it is impossible that he should any longer look
upon Miss Wyndham as his future wife."
Lord Cashel paused for some mark of approbation. Fanny saw that she was
expected to speak, and, therefore, asked whether Lord Ballindine was
still in the house. She listened tremulously for his answer; for she
felt that if her lover were to be rejected, he had a right, after what
had passed between them, to expect that she should, in person, express
her resolution to him. And yet, if she had to see him now, could she
reject him? could she tell him that all the vows that had been made
between them were to be as nothing? No! she could only fall on his
shoulder, and weep in his arms. But Lord Cashel had managed better than
that.
"No, Fanny; neither he nor I, at the present moment, could expect
you--could reasonably expect you, to subject yourself to anything so
painful as an interview must now have been. Lord Ballindine has left
the house--I hope, for the last time--at least, for many months."
These words fell cold upon Fanny's ears, "Did he leave any--any message
for me?"
"Nothing of any moment; nothing which it can avail to communicate to
you: he expressed his grief for your brother's death, and desired I
should tell you how grieved he was that you should be so afflicted."
"Poor Harry!" sobbed Fanny, for it was a relief to cry again, though
her tears were more for her lover than her brother. "Poor Harry! they
were very fond of each other. I'm sure he must have been sorry--I'm
sure he'd feel it"--and she paused, and sobbed again--"He had heard of
Harry's death, then?"
When she said this, she had in her mind none of the dirty suspicion
that had actuated Lord Cashel; but he guessed at her feelings by his
own, and answered accordingly.
"At first I understood him to say he had; but then, he seemed to wish
to express that he had not. My impression, I own, is, that he must have
heard of it; the sad news must have reached him."
Fanny still did not understand the earl. The idea of her lover coming
after her money immediately on her obtaining possession of it, never
entered her mind; she thought of her wealth as far as it might have
affected him, but did not dream of its altering his conduct towards
her.
"And did he seem unhappy about it?" she continued. "I am sure it would
make him very unhappy. He could not have loved Harry better if he had
been his brother," and then she blushed again through her tears, as she
remembered that she had intended that they should be brothers.
Lord Cashel did not say anything more on this head; he was fully
convinced that Lord Ballindine only looked on the young man's death as
a windfall which he might turn to his own advantage; but he thought it
would be a little too strong to say so outright, just at present.
"It will be a comfort for you to know that this matter is now settled,"
continued the earl, "and that no one can attach the slightest blame to
you in the matter. Lord Ballindine has shown himself so very imprudent,
so very unfit, in every way, for the honour you once intended him, that
no other line of conduct was open to you than that which you have
wisely pursued."
This treading on the fallen was too much for Fanny. "I have no right
either to speak or to think ill of him," said she, through her tears;
"and if any one is ill-treated in the matter it is he. But did he not
ask to see me?"
"Surely, Fanny, you would not, at the present moment, have wished to
see him!"
"Oh, no; it is a great relief, under all the circumstances, not
having to do so. But was he contented? I should be glad that he were
satisfied--that he shouldn't think I had treated him harshly, or
rudely. Did he appear as if he wished to see me again?"
"Why, he certainly did ask for a last interview--which, anticipating
your wishes, I have refused."
"But was he satisfied? Did he appear to think that he had been badly
treated?"
"Rejected lovers," answered the earl with a stately smile, "seldom
express much satisfaction with the terms of their rejection; but I
cannot say that Lord Ballindine testified any strong emotion." He rose
from the sofa as he said this, and then, intending to clinch the nail,
added as he went to the door--"to tell the truth, Fanny, I think Lord
Ballindine is much more eager for an alliance with your fair self now,
than he was a few days back, when he could never find a moment's
time to leave his horses, and his friend Mr Blake, either to see his
intended wife, or to pay Lady Cashel the usual courtesy of a morning
visit." He then opened the door, and, again closing it, added--"I
think, however, Fanny, that what has now passed between us will secure
you from any further annoyance from him."
Lord Cashel, in this last speech, had greatly overshot his mark; his
object had been to make the separation between his ward and her lover
permanent; and, hitherto, he had successfully appealed to her pride and
her judgment. Fanny had felt Lord Cashel to be right, when he told her
that she was neglected, and that Frank was dissipated, and in debt. She
knew she should be unhappy as the wife of a poor nobleman, and she felt
that it would break her proud heart to be jilted herself. She had,
therefore, though unwillingly, still entirely agreed with her, guardian
as to the expediency of breaking off, the match; and, had Lord Cashel
been judicious, he might have confirmed her in this resolution; but his
last thunderbolt, which had been intended to crush Lord Ballindine, had
completely recoiled upon himself. Fanny now instantly understood the
allusion, and, raising her face, which was again resting on her hands,
looked at him with an indignant glance through her tears.
Lord Cashel, however, had left the room without observing the
indignation expressed in Fanny's eyes; but she was indignant; she
knew Frank well enough to be sure that he had come to Grey Abbey that
morning with no such base motives as those ascribed to him. He might
have heard of Harry's death, and come there to express his sorrow, and
offer that consolation which she felt she could accept from him sooner
than from any living creature:--or, he might have been ignorant of it
altogether; but that he should come there to press his suit because her
brother was dead--immediately after his death--was not only impossible;
but the person who could say it was possible, must be false and untrue
to her. Her uncle could not have believed it himself: he had basely
pretended to believe it, that he might widen the breach which he had
made.
Fanny was alone, in the drawing-room--for her cousin had left it as
soon as her father began to talk about Lord Ballindine, and she sat
there glowering through her tears for a long time. Had Lord Ballindine
been able to know all her thoughts at this moment, he would have felt
little doubt as to the ultimate success of his suit.
XIII. FATHER AND SON
Lord Cashel firmly believed, when he left the room, that he had shown
great tact in discovering Frank's mercenary schemes, and in laying them
open before Fanny; and that she had firmly and finally made up her mind
to have nothing more to do with him. He had not long been re-seated in
his customary chair in the book-room, before he began to feel a certain
degree of horror at the young lord's baseness, and to think how
worthily he had executed his duty as a guardian, in saving Miss Wyndham
from so sordid a suitor. From thinking of his duties as a guardian, his
mind, not unnaturally, recurred to those which were incumbent on him
as a father, and here nothing disturbed his serenity. It is true that,
from an appreciation of the lustre which would reflect back upon
himself from allowing his son to become a decidedly fashionable young
man, he had encouraged him in extravagance, dissipation, and heartless
worldliness; he had brought him up to be supercilious, expensive,
unprincipled, and useless. But then, he was gentlemanlike, dignified,
and sought after; and now, the father reflected, with satisfaction,
that, if he could accomplish his well-conceived scheme, he would pay
his son's debts with his ward's fortune, and, at the same time, tie
him down to some degree of propriety and decorum, by a wife. Lord
Kilcullen, when about to marry, would be obliged to cashier his
opera-dancers and their expensive crews; and, though he might not leave
the turf altogether, when married he would gradually be drawn out of
turf society, and would doubtless become a good steady family nobleman,
like his father. Why, he--Lord Cashel himself--wise, prudent, and
respectable as he was--example as he knew himself to be to all peers,
English, Irish, and Scotch,--had had his horses, and his indiscretions,
when he was young. And then he stroked the calves of his legs, and
smiled grimly; for the memory of his juvenile vices was pleasant to
him.
Lord Cashel thought, as he continued to reflect on the matter, that
Lord Ballindine was certainly a sordid schemer; but that his son was a
young man of whom he had just reason to be proud, and who was worthy
of a wife in the shape of a hundred thousand pounds. And then, he
congratulated himself on being the most anxious of guardians and the
best of fathers; and, with these comfortable reflections, the worthy
peer strutted off, through his ample doors, up his lofty stairs, and
away through his long corridors, to dress for dinner. You might have
heard his boots creaking till he got inside his dressing-room, but you
must have owned that they did so with a most dignified cadence.
It was pleasant enough, certainly, planning all these things; but there
would be some little trouble in executing them. In the first place,
Lord Kilcullen--though a very good son, on the whole, as the father
frequently remarked to himself--was a little fond of having a will of
his own, and may-be, might object to dispense with his dancing-girls.
And though there was, unfortunately, but little doubt that the money
was indispensably necessary to him, it was just possible that he might
insist on having the cash without his cousin. However, the proposal
must be made, and, as the operations necessary to perfect the marriage
would cause some delay, and the money would certainly be wanted as soon
as possible, no time was to be lost. Lord Kilcullen was, accordingly,
summoned to Grey Abbey; and, as he presumed his attendance was required
for the purpose of talking over some method of raising the wind, he
obeyed the summons.--I should rather have said of raising a storm, for
no gentle puff would serve to waft him through his present necessities.
Down he came, to the great delight of his mother, who thought him
by far the finest young man of the day, though he usually slighted,
snubbed, and ridiculed her--and of his sister, who always hailed with
dignified joy the return of the eldest scion of her proud family to the
ancestral roof. The earl was also glad to find that no previous
engagement detained him; that is, that he so far sacrificed his
own comfort as to leave Tattersall's and the _Figuranti_ of the
Opera-House, to come all the way to Grey Abbey, in the county of
Kildare. But, though the earl was glad to see his son, he was still a
little consternated: the business interview could not be postponed,
as it was not to be supposed that Lord Kilcullen would stay long at
Grey Abbey during the London season; and the father had yet hardly
sufficiently crammed himself for the occasion. Besides, the pressure
from without must have been very strong to have produced so immediate a
compliance with a behest not uttered in a very peremptory manner, or,
generally speaking, to a very obedient child.
On the morning after his arrival, the earl was a little uneasy in his
chair during breakfast. It was rather a sombre meal, for Fanny had by
no means recovered her spirits, nor did she appear to be in the way to
do so. The countess tried to chat a little to her son, but he hardly
answered her; and Lady Selina, though she was often profound, was never
amusing. Lord Cashel made sundry attempts at general conversation, but
as often failed. It was, at last, however, over; and the father
requested the son to come with him into the book-room.
When the fire was poked, and the chairs were drawn together over the
rug, there were no further preliminaries which could be decently
introduced, and the earl was therefore forced to commence.
"Well, Kilcullen, I'm glad you're come to Grey Abbey. I'm afraid,
however, we shan't induce you to stay with us long, so it's as well
perhaps to settle our business at once. You would, however, greatly
oblige your mother, and I'm sure I need not add, myself, if you could
make your arrangements so as to stay with us till after Easter. We
could then return together."
"Till after Easter, my lord! I should be in the Hue and Cry before that
time, if I was so long absent from my accustomed haunts. Besides I
should only put out your own arrangements, or rather, those of Lady
Cashel. There would probably be no room for me in the family coach.".
"The family coach won't go, Lord Kilcullen. I am sorry to say, that the
state of my affairs at present renders it advisable that the family
should remain at Grey Abbey this season. I shall attend my
parliamentary duties alone."
This was intended as a hit the first at the prodigal son, but Kilcullen
was too crafty to allow it to tell. He merely bowed his head, and
opened his eyes, to betoken his surprise at such a decision, and
remained quiet.
"Indeed," continued Lord Cashel, "I did not even intend to have gone
myself, but the unexpected death of Harry Wyndham renders it necessary.
I must put Fanny's affairs in a right train. Poor Harry!--did you see
much of him during his illness?"
"Why, no--I can't say I did. I'm not a very good hand at doctoring or
nursing. I saw him once since he got his commission, glittering with
his gold lace like a new weather-cock on a Town Hall. He hadn't time to
polish the shine off."
"His death will make a great difference, as far as Fanny is
concerned--eh?"
"Indeed it will: her fortune now is considerable;--a deuced pretty
thing, remembering that it's all ready money, and that she can touch it
the moment she's of age. She's entirely off with Ballindine, isn't
she?"
"Oh, entirely," said the earl, with considerable self-complacency;
"that affair is entirely over."
"I've stated so everywhere publicly; but I dare say, she'll give him
her money, nevertheless. She's not the girl to give over a man, if
she's really fond of him."
"But, my dear Kilcullen, she has authorised me to give him a final
answer, and I have done so. After that, you know, it would be quite
impossible for her to--to--"
"You'll see;--she'll marry Lord Ballindine. Had Harry lived, it might
have been different; but now she's got all her brother's money, she'll
think it a point of honour to marry her poor lover. Besides, her
staying this year in the country will be in his favour: she'll see no
one here--and she'll want something to think of. I understand he has
altogether thrown himself into Blake's hands--the keenest fellow in
Ireland, with as much mercy as a foxhound. He's a positive fool, is
Ballindine."
"I'm afraid he is--I'm afraid he is. And you may be sure I'm too fond
of Fanny--that is, I have too much regard for the trust reposed in me,
to allow her to throw herself away upon him."
"That's all very well; but what can you do?"
"Why, not allow him to see her; and I've another plan in my head for
her."
"Ah!--but the thing is to put the plan into _her_ head. I'd be sorry
to hear of a fine girl like Fanny Wyndham breaking her heart in a
half-ruined barrack in Connaught, without money to pay a schoolmaster
to teach her children to spell. But I've too many troubles of my own
to think of just at present, to care much about hers;" and the son and
heir got up, and stood with his back to the fire, and put his arms
under his coat-laps. "Upon my soul, my lord, I never was so hard up in
my life!"
Lord Cashel now prepared himself for action. The first shot was fired,
and he must go on with the battle.
"So I hear, Kilcullen; and yet, during the last four years, you've had
nearly double your allowance; and, before that, I paid every farthing
you owed. Within the last five years, you've had nearly forty thousand
pounds! Supposing you'd had younger brothers, Lord Kilcullen--supposing
that I had had six or eight sons instead of only one; what would you
have done? How then would you have paid your debts?"
"Fate having exempted me and your lordship from so severe a curse, I
have never turned my mind to reflect what I might have done under such
an infliction."
"Or, supposing I had chosen, myself, to indulge in those expensive
habits, which would have absorbed my income, and left me unable to do
more for you, than many other noblemen in my position do for their
sons--do you ever reflect how impossible it would then have been for me
to have helped you out of your difficulties?"
"I feel as truly grateful for your self-denial in this respect, as I do
in that of my non-begotten brethren."
Lord Cashel saw that he was laughed at, and he looked angry; but he did
not want to quarrel with his son, so he continued:
"Jervis writes me word that it is absolutely necessary that thirty
thousand pounds should be paid for you at once; or, that your remaining
in London--or, in fact, in the country at all, is quite out of the
question."
"Indeed, my lord, I'm afraid Jervis is right."
"Thirty thousand pounds! Are you aware what your income is?"
"Why, hardly. I know Jervis takes care that I never see much of it."
"Do you mean that you don't receive it?"
"Oh, I do not at all doubt its accurate payment. I mean to say, that
I don't often have the satisfaction of seeing much of it at the right
side of my banker's book."
"Thirty thousand pounds! And will that sum set you completely free in
the world?"
"I am sorry to say it will not--nor nearly."
"Then, Lord Kilcullen," said the earl, with most severe, but still most
courteous dignity, "may I trouble you to be good enough to tell me
what, at the present moment, you do owe?"
"I'm afraid I could not do so with any accuracy; but it is more than
double the sum you have named."
"Do you mean, that you have no schedule of your debts?--no means of
acquainting me with the amount? How can you expect that I can assist
you, when you think it too much trouble to make yourself thoroughly
acquainted with the state of your own affairs?"
"A list could certainly be made out, if I had any prospect of being
able to settle the amount. If your lordship can undertake to do so at
once, I will undertake to hand you a correct list of the sums due,
before I leave Grey Abbey. I presume you would not require to know
exactly to whom all the items were owing."
This effrontery was too much, and Lord Cashel was very near to losing
his temper.
"Upon my honour, Kilcullen, you're cool, very cool. You come upon me
to pay, Heaven knows how many thousands--more money, I know, than I'm
able to raise; and you condescendingly tell me that you will trouble
yourself so far as to let me know how much money I am to give you--but
that I am not to know what is done with it! No; if I am to pay your
debts again, I will do it through Jervis."
"Pray remember," replied Lord Kilcullen, not at all disturbed from his
equanimity, "that I have not proposed that you should pay my debts
without knowing where the money went; and also that I have not yet
asked you to pay them at all."
"Who, then, do you expect will pay them? I can assure you I should be
glad to be relieved from the honour."
"I merely said that I had not yet made any proposition respecting them.
Of course, I expect your assistance. Failing you, I have no resource
but the Jews. I should regret to put the property into their hands;
especially as, hitherto, I have not raised money on post obits [24]."
[FOOTNOTE 24: post obit--a loan that need not be repaid until
the death of a specified individual, usually
someone from whom the borrower expected to inherit
enough to repay the loan]
"At any rate, I'm glad of that," said the father, willing to admit any
excuse for returning to his good humour. "That would be ruin; and I
hope that anything short of that may be--may be--may be done something
with."
The expression was not dignified, and it pained the earl to make it;
but it was expressive, and he didn't wish at once to say that he had a
proposal for paying off his son's debts. "But now, Kilcullen, tell me
fairly, in round figures, what do you think you owe?--as near as you
can guess, without going to pen and paper, you know?"
"Well, my lord, if you will allow me, I will make a proposition to you.
If you will hand over to Mr Jervis fifty thousand pounds, for him to
pay such claims as have already been made upon him as your agent, and
such other debts as I may have sent in to him: and if you will give
myself thirty thousand, to pay such debts as I do not choose to have
paid by an agent, I will undertake to have everything settled."
"Eighty thousand pounds in four years! Why, Kilcullen, what have you
done with it?--where has it gone? You have five thousand a-year, no
house to keep up, no property to support, no tenants to satisfy, no
rates to pay--five thousand a-year for your own personal expenses--and,
in four years, you have got eighty thousand in debt! The property
never can stand that, you know. It never can stand at that rate. Why,
Kilcullen, what have you done with it?"
"Mr Crockford has a portion of it, and John Scott has some of it. A
great deal of it is scattered rather widely--so widely that it would be
difficult now to trace it. But, my lord, it has gone. I won't deny that
the greater portion of it has been lost at play, or on the turf. I
trust I may, in future, be more fortunate and more cautious."
"I trust so. I trust so, indeed. Eighty thousand pounds! And do you
think I can raise such a sum as that at a week's warning?"
"Indeed, I have no doubt as to your being able to do so: it may be
another question whether you are willing."
"I am not--I am not able," said the libelled father. "As you know well
enough, the incumbrances on the property take more than a quarter of my
income."
"There can, nevertheless, be no doubt of your being able to have the
money, and that at once, if you chose to go into the market for it. I
have no doubt but that Mr Jervis could get it for you at once at five
per cent."
"Four thousand a-year gone for ever from the property!--and what
security am I to have that the same sacrifice will not be again
incurred, after another lapse of four years?"
"You can have no security, my lord, against my being in debt. You can,
however, have every security that you will not again pay my debts, in
your own resolution. I trust, however, that I have some experience to
prevent my again falling into so disagreeable a predicament. I think I
have heard your Lordship say that you incurred some unnecessary
expenses yourself in London, before your marriage!"
"I wish, Kilcullen, that you had never exceeded your income more than
I did mine. But it is no use talking any further on this subject. I
cannot, and I will not--I cannot in justice either to myself or to you,
borrow this money for you; nor, if I could, should I think it right to
do so."
"Then what the devil's the use of talking about it so long?" said the
dutiful son, hastily jumping up from the chair in which he had again
sat down. "Did you bring me down to Grey Abbey merely to tell me that
you knew of my difficulties, and that you could do nothing to assist
me?"
"Now, don't put yourself into a passion--pray don't!" said the father,
a little frightened by the sudden ebullition. "If you'll sit down, and
listen to me, I'll tell you what I propose. I did not send for you
here without intending to point out to you some method of extricating
yourself from your present pecuniary embarrassment; and, if you have
any wish to give up your course, of--I must say, reckless profusion,
and commence that upright and distinguished career, which I still hope
to see you take, you will, I think, own that my plan is both a safer
and a more expedient one than that which you have proposed. It is quite
time for you now to abandon the expensive follies of youth; and,"--Lord
Cashel was getting into a delightfully dignified tone, and felt himself
prepared for a good burst of common-place eloquence; but his son looked
impatient, and as he could not take such liberty with him as he could
with Lord Ballindine, he came to the point at once, and ended abruptly
by saying, "and get married."
"For the purpose of allowing my wife to pay my debts?"
"Why, not exactly that; but as, of course, you could not marry any
woman but a woman with a large fortune, that would follow as a matter
of consequence."
"Your lordship proposes the fortune not as the first object of my
affection, but merely as a corollary. But, perhaps, it will be as well
that you should finish your proposition, before I make any remarks on
the subject." And Lord Kilcullen, sat down, with a well-feigned look of
listless indifference.
"Well, Kilcullen, I have latterly been thinking much about you, and so
has your poor mother. She is very uneasy that you should still--still
be unmarried; and Jervis has written to me very strongly. You see it
is quite necessary that something should be done--or we shall both be
ruined. Now, if I did raise this sum--and I really could not do it--I
don't think I could manage it, just at present; but, even if I did, it
would only be encouraging you to go on just in the same way again. Now,
if you were to marry, your whole course of life would be altered, and
you would become, at the same time, more respectable and more happy."
"That would depend a good deal upon circumstances, I should think."
"Oh! I am sure you would. You are just the same sort of fellow I was
when at your age, and I was much happier after I was married, so I know
it. Now, you see, your cousin has a hundred thousand pounds; in fact
something more than that."
"What?--Fanny! Poor Ballindine! So that's the way with him is it! When
I was contradicting the rumour of his marriage with Fanny, I little
thought that I was to be his rival! At any rate, I shall have to shoot
him first."
"You might, at any rate, confine yourself to sense, Lord Kilcullen,
when I am taking so much pains to talk sensibly to you, on a subject
which, I presume, cannot but interest you."
"Indeed, my lord, I'm all attention; and I do intend to talk sensibly
when I say that I think you are proposing to treat Ballindine very ill.
The world will think well of your turning him adrift on the score of
the match being an imprudent one; but it won't speak so leniently of
you if you expel him, as soon as your ward becomes an heiress, to make
way for your own son."
"You know that I'm not thinking of doing so. I've long seen that Lord
Ballindine would not make a fitting husband for Fanny--long before
Harry died."
"And you think that I shall?"
"Indeed I do. I think she will be lucky to get you."
"I'm flattered into silence: pray go on."
"You will be an earl--a peer--and a man of property. What would she
become if she married Lord Ballindine?"
"Oh, you are quite right! Go on. I wonder it never occurred to her
before to set her cap at me."
"Now do be serious. I wonder how you can joke on such a subject, with
all your debts. I'm sure I feel them heavy enough, if you don't. You
see Lord Ballindine was refused--I may say he was refused--before we
heard about that poor boy's unfortunate death. It was the very morning
we heard of it, three or four hours before the messenger came, that
Fanny had expressed her resolution to declare it off, and commissioned
me to tell him so. And, therefore, of course, the two things can't have
the remotest reference to each other."
"I see. There are, or have been, two Fanny Wyndhams--separate persons,
though both wards of your lordship. Lord Ballindine was engaged to the
girl who had a brother; but he can have no possible concern with Fanny
Wyndham, the heiress, who has no brother."
"How can you be so unfeeling?--but you may pay your debts in your own
way. You won't ever listen to what I have to say! I should have thought
that, as your father, I might have considered myself entitled to more
respect from you."
"Indeed, my lord, I'm all respect and attention, and I won't say one
more word till you've finished."
"Well--you must see, there can be no objection on the score of Lord
Ballindine?"
"Oh, none at all."
"And then, where could Fanny wish for a better match than yourself? it
would be a great thing for her, and the match would be, in all things,
so--so respectable, and just what it ought to be; and your mother would
be so delighted, and so should I, and--"
"Her fortune would so nicely pay all my debts."
"Exactly. Of course, I should take care to have your present
income--five thousand a year--settled on her, in the shape of jointure;
and I'm sure that would be treating her handsomely. The interest of her
fortune would not be more than that."
"And what should we live on?"
"Why, of course, I should continue your present allowance."
"And you think that that which I have found so insufficient for myself,
would be enough for both of us?"
"You must make it enough, Kilcullen--in order that there may be
something left to enable you to keep up your title when I am gone."
By this time, Lord Kilcullen appeared to be as serious, and nearly as
solemn, as his father, and he sat, for a considerable time, musing,
till his father said, "Well, Kilcullen, will you take my advice?"
"It's impracticable, my lord. In the first place, the money must be
paid immediately, and considerable delay must occur before I could even
offer to Miss Wyndham; and, in the next place, were I to do so, I am
sure she would refuse me."
"Why; there must be some delay, of course. But I suppose, if I passed
my word, through Jervis, for so much of the debts as are immediate,
that a settlement might be made whereby they might stand over for
twelve months, with interest, of course. As to refusing you, it's not
at all likely: where would she look for a better offer?"
"I don't know much of my cousin; but I don't think she's exactly the
girl to take a man because he's a good match for her."
"Perhaps not. But then, you know, you understand women so well, and
would have such opportunities; you would be sure to make yourself
agreeable to her, with very little effort on your part."
"Yes, poor thing--she would be delivered over, ready bound, into the
lion's den." And then the young man sat silent again, for some time,
turning the matter over in his mind. At last, he said,--
"Well, my lord; I am a considerate and a dutiful son, and I will agree
to your proposition: but I must saddle it with conditions. I have no
doubt that the sum which I suggested should be paid through your agent,
could be arranged to be paid in a year, or eighteen months, by your
making yourself responsible for it, and I would undertake to indemnify
you. But the thirty thousand pounds I must have at once. I must return
to London, with the power of raising it there, without delay. This,
also, I would repay you out of Fanny's fortune. I would then undertake
to use my best endeavours to effect a union with your ward. But I most
positively will not agree to this--nor have any hand in the matter,
unless I am put in immediate possession of the sum I have named, and
unless you will agree to double my income as soon as I am married."
To both these propositions the earl, at first, refused to accede; but
his son was firm. Then, Lord Cashel agreed to put him in immediate
possession of the sum of money he required, but would not hear of
increasing his income. They argued, discussed, and quarrelled over the
matter, for a long time; till, at last, the anxious father, in his
passion, told his son that he might go his own way, and that he would
take no further trouble to help so unconscionable a child. Lord
Kilcullen rejoined by threatening immediately to throw the whole of the
property, which was entailed on himself, into the hands of the Jews.
Long they argued and bargained, till each was surprised at the
obstinacy of the other. They ended, however, by splitting the
difference, and it was agreed, that Lord Cashel was at once to hand
over thirty thousand pounds, and to take his son's bond for the amount;
that the other debts were to stand over till Fanny's money was
forthcoming; and that the income of the newly married pair was to be
seven thousand five hundred a-year.
"At least," thought Lord Kilcullen to himself, as he good-humouredly
shook hands with his father at the termination of the interview--"I
have not done so badly, for those infernal dogs will be silenced, and I
shall get the money. I could not have gone back without that. I can go
on with the marriage, or not, as I may choose, hereafter. It won't be a
bad speculation, however."
To do Lord Cashel justice, he did not intend cheating his son, nor did
he suspect his son of an intention to cheat him. But the generation was
deteriorating.
XIV. THE COUNTESS
It was delightful to see on what good terms the earl and his son met
that evening at dinner. The latter even went so far as to be decently
civil to his mother, and was quite attentive to Fanny. She, however,
did not seem to appreciate the compliment. It was now a fortnight since
she had heard of her brother's death, and during the whole of that time
she had been silent, unhappy, and fretful. Not a word more had been
said to her about Lord Ballindine, nor had she, as yet, spoken about
him to any one; but she had been thinking about little else, and had
ascertained,--at least, so she thought,--that she could never be happy,
unless she were reconciled to him.
The more she brooded over the subject, the more she felt convinced that
such was the case; she could not think how she had ever been induced
to sanction, by her name, such an unwarrantable proceeding as the
unceremonious dismissal of a man to whom her troth had been plighted,
merely because he had not called to see her. As for his not writing,
she was aware that Lord Cashel had recommended that, till she was of
age, they should not correspond. As she thought the matter over in
her own room, long hour after hour, she became angry with herself for
having been talked into a feeling of anger for him. What right had she
to be angry because he kept horses? She could not expect him to put
himself into Lord Cashel's leading-strings. Indeed, she thought she
would have liked him less if he had done so. And now, to reject him
just when circumstances put it in her power to enable her to free
him from his embarrassments, and live a manner becoming his station!
What must Frank think of her?--For he could not but suppose that her
rejection had been caused by her unexpected inheritance.
In the course of the fortnight, she made up her mind that all Lord
Cashel had said to Lord Ballindine should be unsaid;--but who was to do
it? It would be a most unpleasant task to perform; and one which, she
was aware, her guardian would be most unwilling to undertake. She fully
resolved that she would do it herself, if she could find no fitting
ambassador to undertake the task, though that would be a step to which
she would fain not be driven. At one time, she absolutely thought of
asking her cousin, Kilcullen, about it:--this was just before his
leaving Grey Abbey; he seemed so much more civil and kind than usual.
But then, she knew so little of him, and so little liked what she did
know: that scheme, therefore, was given up. Lady Selina was so cold,
and prudent--would talk to her so much about propriety, self-respect,
and self-control, that she could not make a confidante of her. No one
could talk to Selina on any subject more immediately interesting than a
Roman Emperor, or a pattern for worsted-work. Fanny felt that she would
not be equal, herself, to going boldly to Lord Cashel, and desiring him
to inform Lord Ballindine that he had been mistaken in the view he had
taken of his ward's wishes: no--that was impossible; such a proceeding
would probably bring on a fit of apoplexy.
There was no one else to whom she could apply, but her aunt. Lady
Cashel was a very good-natured old woman, who slept the greatest
portion of her time, and knitted through the rest of her existence. She
did not take a prominent part in any of the important doings of Grey
Abbey; and, though Lord Cashel constantly referred to her, for he
thought it respectable to do so, no one regarded her much. Fanny felt,
however, that she would neither scold her, ridicule her, nor refuse to
listen: to Lady Cashel, therefore, at last, she went for assistance.
Her ladyship always passed the morning, after breakfast, in a
room adjoining her own bed-room, in which she daily held deep
debate with Griffiths, her factotum, respecting household affairs,
knitting-needles, and her own little ailments and cossetings.
Griffiths, luckily, was a woman of much the same tastes as her
ladyship, only somewhat of a more active temperament; and they were
most stedfast friends. It was such a comfort to Lady Cashel to have
some one to whom she could twaddle!
The morning after Lord Kilcullen's departure Fanny knocked at her door,
and was asked to come in. The countess, as usual, was in her easy
chair, with the knitting-apparatus in her lap, and Griffiths was seated
at the table, pulling about threads, and keeping her ladyship awake by
small talk.
"I'm afraid I'm disturbing you, aunt," said Fanny, "but I wanted to
speak to you for a minute or two. Good morning, Mrs Griffiths."
"Oh, no! you won't disturb me, Fanny. I was a little busy this morning,
for I wanted to finish this side of the--You see what a deal I've
done,"--and the countess lugged up a whole heap of miscellaneous
worsted from a basket just under her arm--"and I must finish it by
lady-day [25], or I shan't get the other done, I don't know when. But
still, I've plenty of time to attend to you."
[FOOTNOTE 25: lady-day--Annunciation Day, March 25]
"Then I'll go down, my lady, and see about getting the syrup boiled,"
said Griffiths. "Good morning, Miss Wyndham."
"Do; but mind you come up again immediately--I'll ring the bell when
Miss Wyndham is going; and pray don't leave me alone, now."
"No, my lady--not a moment," and Griffiths escaped to the syrup.
Fanny's heart beat quick and hard, as she sat down on the sofa,
opposite to her aunt. It was impossible for any one to be afraid of
Lady Cashel, there was so very little about her that could inspire awe;
but then, what she had to say was so very disagreeable to say! If she
had had to tell her tale out loud, merely to the empty easy chair, it
would have been a dreadful undertaking.
"Well, Fanny, what can I do for you? I'm sure you look very nice in
your bombazine; and it's very nicely made up. Who was it made it for
you?"
"I got it down from Dublin, aunt; from Foley's."
"Oh, I remember; so you told me. Griffiths has a niece makes those
things up very well; but then she lives at Namptwich, and one couldn't
send to England for it. I had such a quantity of mourning by me, I
didn't get any made up new; else, I think I must have sent for her."
"My dear aunt, I am very unhappy about something, and I want you to
help me. I'm afraid, though, it will give you a great deal of trouble."
"Good gracious, Fanny!--what is it? Is it about poor Harry? I'm sure I
grieved about him more than I can tell."
"No, aunt: he's gone now, and time is the only cure for that grief. I
know I must bear that without complaining. But, aunt, I feel--I think,
that is, that I've used Lord Ballindine very ill."
"Good gracious me, my love! I thought Lord Cashel had managed all
that--I thought that was all settled. You know, he would keep those
horrid horses, and all that kind of thing; and what more could you do
than just let Lord Cashel settle it?"
"Yes, but aunt--you see, I had engaged myself to Lord Ballindine, and I
don't think--in fact--oh, aunt! I did not wish to break my word to Lord
Ballindine, and I am very very sorry for what has been done," and Fanny
was again in tears.
"But, my dear Fanny," said the countess, so far excited as to commence
rising from her seat--the attempt, however, was abandoned, when
she felt the ill effects of the labour to which she was exposing
herself--"but, my dear Fanny--what would you have? It's done, now, you
know; and, really, it's for the best."
"Oh, but, dear aunt, I must get somebody to see him. I've been thinking
about it ever since he was here with my uncle. I wouldn't let him think
that I broke it all off, merely because--because of poor Harry's
money," and Fanny sobbed away dreadfully.
"But you don't want to marry him!" said the naïve countess.
Now, Fanny did want to marry him, though she hardly liked saying so,
even to Lady Cashel.
"You know, I promised him I would," said she; "and what will he think
of me?--what must he think of me, to throw him off so cruelly, so
harshly, after all that's past?--Oh, aunt! I must see him again."
"I know something of human nature," replied the aunt, "and if you do, I
tell you, it will end in your being engaged to him again. You know it's
off now. Come, my dear; don't think so much about it: I'm sure Lord
Cashel wouldn't do anything cruel or harsh."
"Oh, I must see him again, whatever comes of it;" and then she paused
for a considerable time, during which the bewildered old lady was
thinking what she could do to relieve her sensitive niece. "Dear, dear
aunt, I don't want to deceive you!" and Fanny, springing up, knelt at
her aunt's feet, and looked up into her face. "I do love him--I always
loved him, and I cannot, cannot quarrel with him." And then she burst
out crying vehemently, hiding her face in the countess's lap.
Lady Cashel was quite overwhelmed. Fanny was usually so much more
collected than herself, that her present prostration, both of
feeling and body, was dreadful to see. Suppose she was to go into
hysterics--there they would be alone, and Lady Cashel felt that she had
not strength to ring the bell.
"But, my dear Fanny! oh dear, oh dear, this is very dreadful!--but,
Fanny--he's gone away now. Lift up your face, Fanny, for you frighten
me. Well, I'm sure I'll do anything for you. Perhaps he wouldn't mind
coming back again,--he always was very good-natured. I'm sure I always
liked Lord Ballindine very much,--only he would have all those horses.
But I'm sure, if you wish it, I should be very glad to see him marry
you; only, you know, you must wait some time, because of poor Harry;
and I'm sure I don't know how you'll manage with Lord Cashel."
"Dear aunt--I want you to speak to Lord Cashel. When I was angry
because I thought Frank didn't come here as he might have done, I
consented that my uncle should break off the match: besides, then, you
know, we should have had so little between us. But I didn't know then
how well I loved him. Indeed, indeed, aunt, I cannot bring my heart to
quarrel with him; and I am quite, _quite_ sure he would never wish to
quarrel with me. Will you go to my uncle--tell him that I've changed my
mind; tell him that I was a foolish girl, and did not know my mind. But
tell him I _must_ be friends with Frank again."
"Well, of course I'll do what you wish me,--indeed, I would do anything
for you, Fanny, as if you were one of my own; but really, I don't
know--Good gracious! What am I to say to him? Wouldn't it be better,
Fanny, if you were to go to him yourself?"
"Oh, no, aunt; pray do you tell him first. I couldn't go to him;
besides, he would do anything for you, you know. I want you to go
to him--do, now, dear aunt--and tell him--not from me, but from
yourself--how very, very much I--that is, how very very--but you will
know what to say; only Frank must, _must_ come back again."
"Well, Fanny, dear, I'll go to Lord Cashel; or, perhaps, he wouldn't
mind coming here. Ring the bell for me, dear. But I'm sure he'll be
very angry. I'd just write a line and ask Lord Ballindine to come and
dine here, and let him settle it all himself, only I don't think Lord
Cashel would like it."
Griffiths answered the summons, and was despatched to the book-room
to tell his lordship that her ladyship would be greatly obliged if
he would step upstairs to her for a minute or two; and, as soon as
Griffiths was gone on her errand, Fanny fled to her own apartment,
leaving her aunt in a very bewildered and pitiable state of mind: and
there she waited, with palpitating heart and weeping eyes, the effects
of the interview.
She was dreadfully nervous, for she felt certain that she would be
summoned before her uncle. Hitherto, she alone, in all the house, had
held him in no kind of awe; indeed, her respect for her uncle had not
been of the most exalted kind; but now she felt she was afraid of him.
She remained in her room much longer than she thought it would have
taken her aunt to explain what she had to say. At last, however, she
heard footsteps in the corridor, and Griffiths knocked at the door. Her
aunt would be obliged by her stepping into her room. She tried not to
look disconcerted, and asked if Lord Cashel were still there. She was
told that he was; and she felt that she had to muster up all her
courage to encounter him.
When she went into the room, Lady Cashel was still in her easy-chair,
but the chair seemed to lend none of its easiness to its owner. She
was sitting upright, with her hands on her two knees, and she looked
perplexed, distressed, and unhappy. Lord Cashel was standing with his
back to the fire-place, and Fanny had never seen his face look so
black. He really seemed, for the time, to have given over acting, to
have thrown aside his dignity, and to be natural and in earnest.
Lady Cashel began the conversation.
"Oh, Fanny," she said, "you must really overcome all this
sensitiveness; you really must. I've spoken to your uncle, and it's
quite impossible, and very unwise; and, indeed, it can't be done at
all. In fact, Lord Ballindine isn't, by any means, the sort of person I
supposed."
Fanny knit her brows a little at this, and felt somewhat less humble
than she did before. She knew she should get indignant if her uncle
abused her lover, and that, if she did, her courage would rise in
proportion. Her aunt continued--
"Your uncle's very kind about it, and says he can, of course, forgive
your feeling a little out of sorts just at present; and, I'm sure, so
can I, and I'm sure I'd do anything to make you happy; but as for
making it all up with Lord Ballindine again, indeed it cannot be
thought of, Fanny; and so your uncle will tell you."
And then Lord Cashel opened his oracular mouth, for the purpose of
doing so.
"Really, Fanny, this is the most unaccountable thing I ever heard of.
But you'd better sit down, while I speak to you," and Fanny sat down on
the sofa. "I think I understood you rightly, when you desired me, less
than a month ago, to inform Lord Ballindine that circumstances--that
is, his own conduct--obliged you to decline the honour of his alliance.
Did you not do so spontaneously, and of your own accord?"
"Certainly, uncle, I agreed to take your advice; though I did so most
unwillingly."
"Had I not your authority for desiring him--I won't say to discontinue
his visits, for that he had long done--but to give up his pretensions
to your hand? Did you not authorise me to do so?"
"I believe I did. But, uncle--"
"And I have done as you desired me; and now, Fanny, that I have done
so--now that I have fully explained to him what you taught me to
believe were your wishes on the subject, will you tell me--for I really
think your aunt must have misunderstood you--what it is that you wish
me to do?"
"Why, uncle, you pointed out--and it was very true then, that my
fortune was not sufficient to enable Lord Ballindine to keep up his
rank. It is different now, and I am very, very sorry that it is so;
but it is different now, and I feel that I ought not to reject Lord
Ballindine, because I am so much richer than I was when he--when he
proposed to me."
"Then it's merely a matter of feeling with you, and not of affection?
If I understand you, you are afraid that you should be thought to have
treated Lord Ballindine badly?"
"It's not only that--" And then she paused for a few moments, and
added, "I thought I could have parted with him, when you made me
believe that I ought to do so, but I find I cannot."
"You mean that you love him?" and the earl looked very black at his
niece. He intended to frighten her out of her resolution, but she
quietly answered,
"Yes, uncle, I do."
"And you want me to tell him so, after having banished him from my
house?"
Fanny's eyes again shot fire at the word "banished", but she answered,
very quietly, and even with a smile,
"No, uncle; but I want you to ask him here again. I might tell him the
rest myself."
"But, Fanny, dear," said the countess, "your uncle couldn't do it: you
know, he told him to go away before. Besides, I really don't think he'd
come; he's so taken up with those horrid horses, and that Mr Blake, who
is worse than any of 'em. Really, Fanny, Kilcullen says that he and Mr
Blake are quite notorious."
"I think, aunt, Lord Kilcullen might be satisfied with looking after
himself. If it depended on him, he never had a kind word to say for
Lord Ballindine."
"But you know, Fanny," continued the aunt, "he knows everybody; and if
he says Lord Ballindine is that sort of person, why, it must be so,
though I'm sure I'm very sorry to hear it."
Lord Cashel saw that he could not trust any more to his wife: that last
hit about Kilcullen had been very unfortunate; so he determined to put
an end to all Fanny's yearnings after her lover with a strong hand, and
said,
"If you mean, Fanny, after what has passed, that I should go to Lord
Ballindine, and give him to understand that he is again welcome to
Grey Abbey, I must at once tell you that it is absolutely--absolutely
impossible. If I had no personal objection to the young man on any
prudential score, the very fact of my having already, at your request,
desired his absence from my house, would be sufficient to render it
impossible. I owe too much to my own dignity, and am too anxious for
your reputation, to think of doing such a thing. But when I also
remember that Lord Ballindine is a reckless, dissipated gambler--I
much fear, with no fixed principle, I should consider any step towards
renewing the acquaintance between you a most wicked and unpardonable
proceeding."
When Fanny heard her lover designated as a reckless gambler, she lost
all remaining feelings of fear at her uncle's anger, and, standing up,
looked him full in the face through her tears.
"It's not so, my lord!" she said, when he had finished. "He is not what
you have said. I know him too well to believe such things of him, and I
will not submit to hear him abused."
"Oh, Fanny, my dear!" said the frightened countess; "don't speak in
that way. Surely, your uncle means to act for your own happiness; and
don't you know Lord Ballindine has those horrid horses?"
"If I don't mind his horses, aunt, no one else need; but he's no
gambler, and he's not dissipated--I'm sure not half so much so as Lord
Kilcullen."
"In that, Fanny, you're mistaken," said the earl; "but I don't wish to
discuss the matter with you. You must, however, fully understand this:
Lord Ballindine cannot be received under this roof. If you regret him,
you must remember that his rejection was your own act. I think you then
acted most prudently, and I trust it will not be long before you are of
the same opinion yourself," and Lord Cashel moved to the door as though
he had accomplished his part in the interview.
"Stop one moment, uncle," said Fanny, striving hard to be calm, and
hardly succeeding. "I did not ask my aunt to speak to you on this
subject, till I had turned it over and over in my mind, and resolved
that I would not make myself and another miserable for ever, because I
had been foolish enough not to know my mind. You best know whether you
can ask Lord Ballindine to Grey Abbey or not; but I am determined, if
I cannot see him here, that I will see him somewhere else," and she
turned towards the door, and then, thinking of her aunt, she turned
back and kissed her, and immediately left the room.
The countess looked up at her husband, quite dumbfounded, and he seemed
rather distressed himself. However, he muttered something about her
being a hot-headed simpleton and soon thinking better about it, and
then betook himself to his private retreat, to hold sweet converse with
his own thoughts--having first rung the bell for Griffiths, to pick up
the scattered threads of her mistress's knitting.
Lord Cashel certainly did not like the look of things. There was a
determination in Fanny's eye, as she made her parting speech, which
upset him rather, and which threw considerable difficulties in the way
of Lord Kilcullen's wooing. To be sure, time would do a great deal: but
then, there wasn't so much time to spare. He had already taken steps to
borrow the thirty thousand pounds, and had, indeed, empowered his son
to receive it: he had also pledged himself for the other fifty; and
then, after all, that perverse fool of a girl would insist on being in
love with that scapegrace, Lord Ballindine! This, however, might wear
away, and he would take very good care that she should hear of his
misdoings. It would be very odd if, after all, his plans were to be
destroyed, and his arrangements disconcerted by his own ward, and
niece--especially when he designed so great a match for her!
He could not, however, make himself quite comfortable, though he had
great confidence in his own diplomatic resources.
XV. HANDICAP LODGE
Lord Ballindine left Grey Abbey, and rode homewards, towards Handicap
Lodge, in a melancholy and speculative mood. His first thoughts were
all of Harry Wyndham. Frank, as the accepted suitor of his sister, had
known him well and intimately, and had liked him much; and the poor
young fellow had been much attached to him. He was greatly shocked to
hear of his death. It was not yet a month since he had seen him shining
in all the new-blown splendour of his cavalry regimentals, and Lord
Ballindine was unfeignedly grieved to think how short a time the lad
had lived to enjoy them. His thoughts, then, naturally turned to
his own position, and the declaration which Lord Cashel had made to
him respecting himself. Could it be absolutely true that Fanny had
determined to give him up altogether?--After all her willing vows, and
assurances of unalterable affection, could she be so cold as to content
herself with sending him a formal message, by her uncle, that she
did not wish to see him again? Frank argued with himself that it was
impossible; he was sure he knew her too well. But still, Lord Cashel
would hardly tell him a downright lie, and he had distinctly stated
that the rejection came from Miss Wyndham herself.
Then, he began to feel indignant, and spurred his horse, and rode a
little faster, and made a few resolutions as to upholding his own
dignity. He would run after neither Lord Cashel nor his niece; he would
not even ask her to change her mind, since she had been able to bring
herself to such a determination as that expressed to him. But he would
insist on seeing her; she could not refuse that to him, after what had
passed between them, and he would then tell her what he thought of her,
and leave her for ever. But no; he would do nothing to vex her, as long
as she was grieving for her brother. Poor Harry!--she loved him so
dearly! Perhaps, after all, his sudden rejection was, in some manner,
occasioned by this sad event, and would be revoked as her sorrow grew
less with time. And then, for the first time, the idea shot across his
mind, of the wealth Fanny must inherit by her brother's death.
It certainly had a considerable effect on him, for he breathed slow
awhile, and was some little time before he could entirely realise the
conception that Fanny was now the undoubted owner of a large fortune.
"That is it," thought he to himself, at last; "that sordid earl
considers that he can now be sure of a higher match for his niece, and
Fanny has allowed herself to be persuaded out of her engagement: she
has allowed herself to be talked into the belief that it was her duty
to give up a poor man like me." And then, he felt very angry again.
"Heavens!" said he to himself--"is it possible she should be so
servile and so mean? Fanny Wyndham, who cared so little for the prosy
admonitions of her uncle, a few months since, can she have altered her
disposition so completely? Can the possession of her brother's money
have made so vile a change in her character? Could she be the same
Fanny who had so entirely belonged to him, who had certainly loved him
truly once? Perish her money! he had sought her from affection alone;
he had truly and fondly loved her; he had determined to cling to her,
in spite of the advice of his friends! And then, he found himself
deserted and betrayed by her, because circumstances had given her the
probable power of making a better match!"
Such were Lord Ballindine's thoughts; and he flattered himself with
the reflection that he was a most cruelly used, affectionate, and
disinterested lover. He did not, at the moment, remember that it was
Fanny's twenty thousand pounds which had first attracted his notice;
and that he had for a considerable time wavered, before he made up his
mind to part with himself at so low a price. It was not to be expected
that he should remember that, just at present; and he rode on,
considerably out of humour with all the world except himself.
As he got near to Handicap Lodge, however, the genius of the
master-spirit of that classic spot came upon him, and he began to
bethink himself that it would be somewhat foolish of him to give up the
game just at present. He reflected that a hundred thousand pounds would
work a wondrous change and improvement at Kelly's Court--and that, if
he was before prepared to marry Fanny Wyndham in opposition to the
wishes of her guardian, he should now be doubly determined to do so,
even though all Grey Abbey had resolved to the contrary. The last idea
in his mind, as he got off his horse at his friend's door was, as to
what Dot Blake would think, and say, of the tidings he brought home
with him?
It was dark when he reached Handicap Lodge, and, having first asked
whether Mr Blake was in, and heard that he was dressing for dinner, he
went to perform the same operation himself. When he came down, full of
his budget, and quite ready, as usual, to apply to Dot for advice, he
was surprised, and annoyed, to find two other gentlemen in the room,
together with Blake. What a bore! to have to make one of a dinner-party
of four, and the long protracted rubber of shorts which would follow
it, when his mind was so full of other concerns! However, it was not to
be avoided.
The guests were, the fat, good-humoured, ready-witted Mat Tierney, and
a little Connaught member of Parliament, named Morris, who wore a wig,
played a very good rubber of whist, and knew a good deal about selling
hunters. He was not very bright, but he told one or two good stories of
his own adventures in the world, which he repeated oftener than was
approved of by his intimate friends; and he drank his wine plentifully
and discreetly--for, if he didn't get a game of cards after consuming a
certain quantum, he invariably went to sleep.
There was something in the manner in which the three greeted him, on
entering the room, which showed him that they had been speaking of him
and his affairs. Dot was the first to address him.
"Well, Frank, I hope I am to wish you joy. I hope you've made a good
morning's work of it?"
Frank looked rather distressed: before he could answer, however, Mat
Tierney said,
"Well, Ballindine, upon my soul I congratulate you sincerely, though,
of course, you've seen nothing at Grey Abbey but tears and cambric
handkerchiefs. I'm very glad, now, that what Kilcullen told me wasn't
true. He left Dublin for London yesterday, and I suppose he won't hear
of his cousin's death before he gets there."
"Upon my honour, Lord Ballindine," said the horse-dealing member, "you
are a lucky fellow. I believe old Wyndham was a regular golden nabob,
and I suppose, now, you'll touch the whole of his gatherings."
Dot and his guests had heard of Harry Wyndham's death, and Fanny's
accession of fortune; but they had not heard that she had rejected her
lover, and that he had been all but turned out of her guardian's house.
Nor did he mean to tell them; but he did not find himself pleasantly
situated in having to hear their congratulations and listen to
their jokes, while he himself felt that the rumour which he had so
emphatically denied to Mat Tierney, only two days since, had turned out
to be true.
Not one of the party made the slightest reference to the poor brother
from whom Fanny's new fortune had come, except as the lucky means of
conveying it to her. There was no regret even pretended for his early
death, no sympathy expressed with Fanny's sorrow. And there was,
moreover, an evident conviction in the minds of all the three, that
Frank, of course, looked on the accident as a piece of unalloyed
good fortune--a splendid windfall in his way, unattended with any
disagreeable concomitants. This grated against his feelings, and made
him conscious that he was not yet heartless enough to be quite fit for,
the society in which he found himself.
The party soon went into the dining-room; and Frank at first got a
little ease, for Fanny Wyndham seemed to be forgotten in the willing
devotion which was paid to Blake's soup; the interest of the fish,
also, seemed to be absorbing; and though conversation became more
general towards the latter courses, still it was on general subjects,
as long as the servants were in the room. But, much to his annoyance,
his mistress again came on the tapis [26], together with the claret.
[FOOTNOTE 26: A tapis was a small cloth or tapestry sometimes
used to cover a table; hence the expression "on
the tapis" meant "on the table" or "under
consideration."]
"You and Kilcullen don't hit it off together--eh, Ballindine?" said
Mat.
"We never quarrelled," answered Frank; "we never, however, were very
intimate."
"I wonder at that, for you're both fond of the turf. There's a large
string of his at Murphy's now, isn't there, Dot?"
"Too many, I believe," said Blake. "If you've a mind to be a purchaser,
you'll find him a very pleasant fellow--especially if you don't object
to his own prices."
"Faith I'll not trouble him," said Mat; "I've two of them already, and
a couple on the turf and a couple for the saddle are quite enough to
suit me. But what the deuce made him say, so publicly, that your match
was off, Ballindine? He couldn't have heard of Wyndham's death at the
time, or I should think he was after the money himself."
"I cannot tell; he certainly had not my authority," said Frank.
"Nor the lady's either, I hope."
"You had better ask herself, Tierney; and, if she rejects me, maybe
she'll take you."
"There's a speculation for you," said Blake; "you don't think yourself
too old yet, I hope, to make your fortune by marriage?--and, if you
don't, I'm sure Miss Wyndham can't."
"I tell you what, Dot, I admire Miss Wyndham much, and I admire a
hundred thousand pounds more. I don't know anything I admire more than
a hundred thousand pounds, except two; but, upon my word, I wouldn't
take the money and the lady together."
"Well, that's kind of him, isn't it, Frank? So, you've a chance left,
yet."
"Ah! but you forget Morris," said Tierney; "and there's yourself, too.
If Ballindine is not to be the lucky man, I don't see why either of you
should despair."
"Oh! as for me, I'm the devil. I've a tail, only I don't wear it,
except on state occasions; and I've horns and hoofs, only people can't
see them. But I don't see why Morris should not succeed: he's the only
one of the four that doesn't own a racehorse, and that's much in his
favour. What do you say, Morris?"
"I'd have no objection," said the member; "except that I wouldn't like
to stand in Lord Ballindine's way."
"Oh! he's the soul of good-nature. You wouldn't take it ill of him,
would you, Frank?"
"Not the least," said Frank, sulkily; for he didn't like the
conversation, and he didn't know how to put a stop to it.
"Perhaps you wouldn't mind giving him a line of introduction to Lord
Cashel," said Mat.
"But, Morris," said Blake, "I'm afraid your politics would go against
you. A Repealer would never go down at Grey Abbey."
"Morris'll never let his politics harm him," said Tierney. "Repeal's a
very good thing the other side of the Shannon; or one might, carry it
as far as Conciliation Hall, if one was hard pressed, and near an
election. Were you ever in Conciliation Hall yet, Morris?"
"No, Mat; but I'm going next Thursday. Will you go with me?"
"Faith, I will not: but I think you should go; you ought to do
something for your country, for you're a patriot. I never was a public
man."
"Well, when I can do any good for my country, I'll go there. Talking of
that, I saw O'Connell in town yesterday, and I never saw him looking so
well. The verdict hasn't disturbed him much. I wonder what steps the
Government will take now? They must be fairly bothered. I don't think
they dare imprison him."
"Not dare!" said Blake--'and why not? When they had courage to indict
him, you need not fear but what they'll dare to go on with a strong
hand, now they have a verdict."
"I'll tell you what, Dot; if they imprison the whole set," said Mat,
"and keep them in prison for twelve months, every Catholic in Ireland
will be a Repealer by the end of that time."
"And why shouldn't they all be Repealers?" said Morris. "It seems to me
that it's just as natural for us to be Repealers, as it is for you to
be the contrary."
"I won't say they don't dare to put them in prison," continued Mat;
"but I will say they'll be great fools to do it. The Government have
so good an excuse for not doing so: they have such an easy path out
of the hobble. There was just enough difference of opinion among the
judges--just enough irregularity in the trial, such as the omissions of
the names from the long panel--to enable them to pardon the whole set
with a good grace."
"If they did," said Blake, "the whole high Tory party in this
country--peers and parsons--would be furious. They'd lose one set of
supporters, and wouldn't gain another. My opinion is, they'll lock the
whole party up in the stone jug--for some time, at least."
"Why," said Tierney, "their own party could not quarrel with them for
not taking an advantage of a verdict, as to the legality of which there
is so much difference of opinion even among the judges. I don't know
much about these things, myself; but, as far as I can understand, they
would have all been found guilty of high treason a few years back, and
probably have been hung or beheaded; and if they could do that now, the
country would be all the quieter. But they can't: the people will have
their own way; and if they want the people to go easy, they shouldn't
put O'Connell into prison. Rob them all of the glories of martyrdom,
and you'd find you'll cut their combs and stop their crowing."
"It's not so easy to do that now, Mat," said Morris. "You'll find that
the country will stick to O'Connell, whether he's in prison or out
of it;--but Peel will never dare to put him there. They talk of the
Penitentiary; but I'll tell you what, if they put him there, the people
of Dublin won't leave one stone upon another; they'd have it all down
in a night."
"You forget, Morris, how near Richmond barracks are to the
Penitentiary."
"No, I don't. Not that I think there'll be any row of the kind, for
I'll bet a hundred guineas they're never put in prison at all."
"Done," said Dot, and his little book was out--"put that down, Morris,
and I'll initial it: a hundred guineas, even, that O'Connell is not in
prison within twelve months of this time."
"Very well: that is, that he's not put there and kept there for six
months, in consequence of the verdict just given at the State trials."
"No, my boy; that's not it. I said nothing about being kept there six
months. They're going to try for a writ of error, or what the devil
they call it, before the peers. But I'll bet you a cool hundred he is
put in prison before twelve months are over, in consequence of the
verdict. If he's locked up there for one night, I win. Will you take
that?"
"Well, I will," said Morris; and they both went to work at their little
books.
"I was in London," said Mat, "during the greater portion of the
trial--and it's astonishing what unanimity of opinion there was at
the club that the whole set would be acquitted. I heard Howard make
bet, at the Reform Club, that the only man put in prison would be the
Attorney-General."
"He ought to have included the Chief Justice," said Morris. "By the
bye, Mat, is that Howard the brother of the Honourable and Riverind
Augustus?"
"Upon my soul, I don't know whose brother he is. Who is the Riverind
Augustus?"
"Morris wants to tell a story, Mat,' said Blake; 'don't spoil him,
now."
"Indeed I don't," said the member: "I never told it to any one till I
mentioned it to you the other day. It only happened the other day, but
it _is_ worth telling."
"Out with it, Morris," said Mat, "it isn't very long, is it?--because,
if it is, we'll get Dot to give us a little whiskey and hot water
first. I'm sick of the claret."
"Just as you like, Mat," and Blake rang the bell, and the hot water was
brought.
"You know Savarius O'Leary," said Morris, anxious to tell his story,
"eh, Tierney?"
"What, Savy, with the whiskers?" said Tierney, "to be sure I do. Who
doesn't know Savy?"
"You know him, don't you, Lord Ballindine?" Morris was determined
everybody should listen to him.
"Oh yes, I know him; he comes from County Mayo--his property's close to
mine; that is, the patch of rocks and cabins--which he has managed to
mortgage three times over, and each time for more than its value--which
he still calls the O'Leary estate."
"Well; some time ago--that is, since London began to fill, O'Leary was
seen walking down Regent Street, with a parson. How the deuce he'd ever
got hold of the parson, or the parson of him, was never explained; but
Phil Mahon saw him, and asked him who his friend in the white choker
was. 'Is it my friend in black, you mane?' says Savy, 'thin, my frind
was the Honourable and the Riverind Augustus Howard, the Dane.' 'Howard
the Dane,' said Mahon, 'how the duce did any of the Howards become
Danes?' 'Ah, bother!' said Savy, 'it's not of thim Danes he is; it's
not the Danes of Shwaden I mane, at all, man; but a rural Dane of the
Church of England.'"
Mat Tierney laughed heartily at this, and even Frank forgot that his
dignity had been hurt, and that he meant to be sulky; and he laughed
also: the little member was delighted with his success, and felt
himself encouraged to persevere.
"Ah, Savy's a queer fellow, if you knew him," he continued, turning to
Lord Ballindine, "and, upon my soul, he's no fool. Oh, if you knew him
as well--"
"Didn't you hear Ballindine say he was his next door neighbour in
Mayo?" said Blake, "or, rather, next barrack neighbour; for they
dispense with doors in Mayo--eh, Frank? and their houses are all cabins
or barracks."
"Why, we certainly don't pretend to all the Apuleian luxuries of
Handicap Lodge; but we are ignorant enough to think ourselves
comfortable, and swinish enough to enjoy our pitiable state."
"I beg ten thousand pardons, my dear fellow. I didn't mean to offend
your nationality. Castlebar, we must allow, is a fine provincial
city--though Killala's the Mayo city, I believe; and Claremorris, which
is your own town I think, is, as all admit, a gem of Paradise: only
it's a pity so many of the houses have been unroofed lately. It adds
perhaps to the picturesque effect, but it must, I should think, take
away from the comfort."
"Not a house in Claremorris belongs to me," said Lord Ballindine, again
rather sulky, "or ever did to any of my family. I would as soon own
Claremorris, though, as I would Castleblakeney. Your own town is quite
as shattered-looking a place."
"That's quite true--but I have some hopes that Castleblakeney will be
blotted out of the face of creation before I come into possession."
"But I was saying about Savy O'Leary," again interposed Morris, "did
you ever hear what he did?"
But Blake would not allow his guest the privilege of another story. "If
you encourage Morris," said he, "we shall never get our whist," and
with that he rose from the table and walked away into the next room.
They played high. Morris always played high if he could, for he made
money by whist. Tierney was not a gambler by profession; but the men he
lived among all played, and he, therefore, got into the way of it, and
played the game well, for he was obliged to do so in his own defence.
Blake was an adept at every thing of the kind; and though the
card-table was not the place where his light shone brightest, still he was
quite at home at it.
As might be supposed, Lord Ballindine did not fare well among the
three. He played with each of them, one after the other, and lost with
them all. Blake, to do him justice, did not wish to see his friend's
money go into the little member's pocket, and, once or twice, proposed
giving up; but Frank did not second the proposal, and Morris was
inveterate. The consequence was that, before the table was broken up,
Lord Ballindine had lost a sum of money which he could very ill spare,
and went to bed in a very unenviable state of mind, in spite of the
brilliant prospects on which his friends congratulated him.
XVI. BRIEN BORU
The next morning, at breakfast, when Frank was alone with Blake, he
explained to him how matters really stood at Grey Abbey. He told him
how impossible he had found it to insist on seeing Miss Wyndham so soon
after her brother's death, and how disgustingly disagreeable, stiff and
repulsive the earl had been; and, by degrees, they got to talk of other
things, and among them, Frank's present pecuniary miseries.
"There can be no doubt, I suppose," said Dot, when Frank had consoled
himself by anathematising the earl for ten minutes, "as to the fact of
Miss Wyndham's inheriting her brother's fortune?"
"Faith, I don't know; I never thought about her fortune if you'll
believe me. I never even remembered that her brother's death would in
any way affect her in the way of money, until after I left Grey Abbey."
"Oh, I can believe you capable of anything in the way of imprudence."
"Ah, but, Dot, to think of that pompous fool--who sits and caws in
that dingy book-room of his, with as much wise self-confidence as an
antiquated raven--to think of him insinuating that I had come there
looking for Harry Wyndham's money; when, as you know, I was as ignorant
of the poor fellow's death as Lord Cashel was himself a week ago.
Insolent blackguard! I would never, willingly, speak another word to
him, or put my foot inside that infernal door of his, if it were to get
ten times all Harry Wyndham's fortune."
"Then, if I understand you, you now mean to relinquish your claims to
Miss Wyndham's hand."
"No; I don't believe she ever sent the message her uncle gave me. I
don't see why I'm to give her up, just because she's got this money."
"Nor I, Frank, to tell the truth; especially considering how badly you
want it yourself. But I don't think quarrelling with the uncle is the
surest way to get the niece."
"But, man, he quarrelled with me."
"It takes two people to quarrel. If he quarrelled with you, do you be
the less willing to come to loggerheads with him."
"Wouldn't it be the best plan, Dot, to carry her off?"
"She wouldn't go, my boy: rope ladders and post-chaises are out of
fashion."
"But if she's really fond of me--and, upon my honour, I don't believe
I'm flattering myself in thinking that she is--why the deuce shouldn't
she marry me, _malgré_ [27] Lord Cashel? She must be her own mistress
in a week or two. By heavens, I cannot stomach that fellow's arrogant
assumption of superiority."
[FOOTNOTE 27: malgré--(French) in spite of; notwithstanding]
"It will be much more convenient for her to marry you _bon gré_ [28]
Lord Cashel, whom you may pitch to the devil, in any way you like best,
as soon as you have Fanny Wyndham at Kelly's Court. But, till that
happy time, take my advice, and submit to the cawing. Rooks and ravens
are respectable birds, just because they do look so wise. It's a great
thing to look wise; the doing so does an acknowledged fool, like Lord
Cashel, very great credit."
[FOOTNOTE 28: bon gré--(French) with the consent of]
"But what ought I to do? I can't go to the man's house when he told me
expressly not to do so."
"Oh, yes, you can: not immediately, but by and by--in a month or six
weeks. I'll tell you what I should do, in your place; and remember,
Frank, I'm quite in earnest now, for it's a very different thing
playing a game for twenty thousand pounds, which, to you, joined to a
wife, would have been a positive irreparable loss, and starting for
five or six times that sum, which would give you an income on which you
might manage to live."
"Well, thou sapient counsellor--but, I tell you beforehand, the chances
are ten to one I sha'n't follow your plan."
"Do as you like about that: you sha'n't, at any rate, have me to blame.
I would in the first place, assure myself that Fanny inherited her
brother's money."
"There's no doubt about that. Lord Cashel said as much."
"Make sure of it however. A lawyer'll do that for you, with very little
trouble. Then, take your name off the turf at once; it's worth your
while to do it now. You may either do it by a _bona fide_ sale of the
horses, or by running them in some other person's name. Then, watch
your opportunity, call at Grey Abbey, when the earl is not at home, and
manage to see some of the ladies. If you can't do that, if you can't
effect an _entrée_, write to Miss Wyndham; don't be too lachrymose, or
supplicatory, in your style, but ask her to give you a plain answer
personally, or in her own handwriting."
"And if she declines the honour?"
"If, as you say and as I believe, she loves, or has loved you, I don't
think she'll do so. She'll submit to a little parleying, and then
she'll capitulate. But it will be much better that you should see her,
if possible, without writing at all."
"I don't like the idea of calling at Grey Abbey. I wonder whether
they'll go to London this season?"
"If they do, you can go after them. The truth is simply this,
Ballindine; Miss Wyndham will follow her own fancy in the matter, in
spite of her guardian; but, if you make no further advances to her, of
course she can make none to you. But I think the game is in your own
hand. You haven't the head to play it, or I should consider the stakes
as good as won."
"But then, about these horses, Dot. I wish I could sell them, out and
out, at once."
"You'll find it very difficult to get anything like the value for a
horse that's well up for the Derby. You see, a purchaser must make up
his mind to so much outlay: there's the purchase-money, and expense of
English training, with so remote a chance of any speedy return."
"But you said you'd advise me to sell them."
"That's if you can get a purchaser:--or else run them in another name.
You may run them in my name, if you like it; but Scott must understand
that I've nothing whatever to do with the expense."
"Would you not buy them yourself, Blake?"
"No. I would not."
"Why not?"
"If I gave you anything like the value for them, the bargain would not
suit me; and if I got them for what they'd be worth to me, you'd think,
and other people would say, that I'd robbed you."
Then followed a lengthened and most intricate discourse on the affairs
of the stable. Frank much wanted his friend to take his stud entirely
off his hands, but this Dot resolutely refused to do. In the course of
conversation, Frank owned that the present state of his funds rendered
it almost impracticable for him to incur the expense of sending his
favourite, Brien Boru, to win laurels in England. He had lost nearly
three hundred pounds the previous evening which his account at his
banker's did not enable him to pay; his Dublin agent had declined
advancing him more money at present, and his tradesmen were very
importunate. In fact, he was in a scrape, and Dot must advise him how
to extricate himself from it.
"I'll tell you the truth, Ballindine," said he; "as far as I'm
concerned myself, I never will lend money, except where I see, as a
matter of business, that it is a good speculation to do so. I wouldn't
do it for my father."
"Who asked you?" said Frank, turning very red, and looking very angry.
"You did not, certainly; but I thought you might, and you would have
been annoyed when I refused you; now, you have the power of being
indignant, instead. However, having said so much, I'll tell you what I
think you should do, and what I will do to relieve you, as far as the
horses are concerned. Do you go down to Kelly's Court, and remain there
quiet for a time. You'll be able to borrow what money you absolutely
want down there, if the Dublin fellows actually refuse; but do with as
little as you can. The horses shall run in my name for twelve months.
If they win, I will divide with you at the end of the year the amount
won, after deducting their expenses. If they lose, I will charge you
with half the amount lost, including the expenses. Should you not feel
inclined, at the end of the year, to repay me this sum, I will then
keep the horses, instead, or sell them at Dycer's, if you like it
better, and hand you the balance if there be any. What do you say to
this? You will be released from all trouble, annoyance, and expense,
and the cattle will, I trust, be in good hands."
"That is to say, that, for one year, you are to possess one half of
whatever value the horses may be?"
"Exactly: we shall be partners for one year."
"To make that fair," said Frank, "you ought to put into the concern
three horses, as good and as valuable as my three."
"Yes; and you ought to bring into the concern half the capital to be
expended in their training; and knowledge, experience, and skill in
making use of them, equal to mine. No, Frank; you're mistaken if you
think that I can afford to give up my time, merely for the purpose of
making an arrangement to save you from trouble."
"Upon my word, Dot," answered the other, "you're about the coolest hand
I ever met! Did I ask you for your precious time, or anything else?
You're always afraid that you're going to be done. Now, you might make
a distinction between me and some of your other friends, and remember
that I am not in the habit of doing anybody."
"Why, I own I don't think it very likely that I, or indeed anyone else,
should suffer much from you in that way, for your sin is not too much
sharpness."
"Then why do you talk about what you can afford to do?"
"Because it's necessary. I made a proposal which you thought an unfair
one. You mayn't believe me, but it is a most positive fact, that my
only object in making that proposal was, to benefit you. You will find
it difficult to get rid of your horses on any terms; and yet, with the
very great stake before you in Miss Wyndham's fortune, it would be
foolish in you to think of keeping them; and, on this account, I
thought in what manner I could take them from you. If they belong to my
stables I shall consider myself bound to run them to the best
advantage, and"--
"Well, well--for heaven's sake don't speechify about it."
"Stop a moment, Frank, and listen, for I must make you understand. I
must make you see that I am not taking advantage of your position, and
trying to rob my own friend in my own house. I don't care what most
people say of me, for in my career I must expect people to lie of me. I
must, also, take care of myself. But I do wish you to know, that though
I could not disarrange my schemes for you, I would not take you in."
"Why, Dot--how can you go on so? I only thought I was taking a leaf out
of your book, by being careful to make the best bargain I could."
"Well, as I was saying--I would run the horses to the best
advantage--especially Brien, for the Derby: by doing so, my whole book
would be upset: I should have to bet all round again--and, very likely,
not be able to get the bets I want. I could not do this without a very
strong interest in the horse. Besides, you remember that I should have
to go over with him to England myself, and that I should be obliged to
be in England a great deal at a time when my own business would require
me here."
"My dear fellow," said Frank, "you're going on as though it were
necessary to defend yourself. I never accused you of anything."
"Never mind whether you did or no. You understand me now: if it will
suit you, you can take my offer, but I should be glad to know at once."
While this conversation was going on, the two young men had left the
house, and sauntered out into Blake's stud-yard. Here were his stables,
where he kept such horses as were not actually in the trainer's
hands--and a large assortment of aged hunters, celebrated
timber-jumpers, brood mares, thoroughbred fillies, cock-tailed colts,
and promising foals. They were immediately joined by Blake's stud
groom, who came on business intent, to request a few words with his
master; which meant that Lord Ballindine was to retreat, as it was full
time for his friend to proceed to his regular day's work. Blake's groom
was a very different person in appearance, from the sort of servant in
the possession of which the fashionable owner of two or three horses
usually rejoices. He had no diminutive top boots; no loose brown
breeches, buttoned low beneath the knee; no elongated waistcoat with
capacious pockets; no dandy coat with remarkably short tail. He was a
very ugly man of about fifty, named John Bottom, dressed somewhat like
a seedy gentleman; but he understood his business well, and did it;
and was sufficiently wise to know that he served his own pocket best,
in the long run, by being true to his master, and by resisting the
numerous tempting offers which were made to him by denizens of the turf
to play foul with his master's horses. He was, therefore, a treasure to
Blake; and he knew it, and valued himself accordingly.
"Well, John," said his master, "I suppose I must desert Lord Ballindine
again, and obey your summons. Your few words will last nearly till
dinner, I suppose?"
"Why, there is a few things, to be sure, 'll be the better for being
talked over a bit, as his lordship knows well enough. I wish we'd as
crack a nag in our stables, as his lordship."
"Maybe we may, some day; one down and another come on, you know; as the
butcher-boy said."
"At any rate, your horses don't want bottom" said Frank.
He--he--he! laughed John, or rather tried to do so. He had laughed at
that joke a thousand times; and, in the best of humours, he wasn't a
merry man.
"Well, Frank," said Blake, "the cock has crowed; I must away. I suppose
you'll ride down to Igoe's, and see Brien: but think of what I've said,
and," he added, whispering--"remember that I will do the best I can for
the animals, if you put them into my stables. They shall be made second
to nothing, and shall only and always run to win."
So, Blake and John Bottom walked off to the box stables and home
paddocks.
Frank ordered his horse, and complied with his friend's suggestion, by
riding down to Igoe's. He was not in happy spirits as he went; he felt
afraid that his hopes, with regard to Fanny, would be blighted; and
that, if he persevered in his suit, he would only be harassed, annoyed,
and disappointed. He did not see what steps he could take, or how he
could manage to see her. It would be impossible for him to go to Grey
Abbey, after having been, as he felt, turned out by Lord Cashel. Other
things troubled him also. What should he now do with himself? It was
true that he could go down to his own house; but everyone at Kelly's
Court expected him to bring with him a bride and a fortune; and,
instead of that, he would have to own that he had been jilted, and
would be reduced to the disagreeable necessity of borrowing money from
his own tenants. And then, that awful subject, money--took possession
of him. What the deuce was he to do? What a fool he had been, to be
seduced on to the turf by such a man as Blake! And then, he expressed a
wish to himself that Blake had been--a long way off before he ever saw
him. There he was, steward of the Curragh, the owner of the best horse
in Ireland, and absolutely without money to enable him to carry on the
game till he could properly retreat from it!
Then he was a little unfair upon his friend: he accused him of knowing
his position, and wishing to take advantage of it; and, by the time he
had got to Igoe's, his mind was certainly not in a very charitable mood
towards poor Dot. He had, nevertheless, determined to accept his offer,
and to take a last look at the three Milesians.
The people about the stables always made a great fuss with Lord
Ballindine, partly because he was one of the stewards, and partly
because he was going to run a crack horse for the Derby in England;
and though, generally speaking, he did not care much for personal
complimentary respect, he usually got chattered and flattered into good
humour at Igoe's.
"Well, my lord," said a sort of foreman, or partner, or managing man,
who usually presided over the yard, "I think we'll be apt to get
justice to Ireland on the downs this year. That is, they'll give us
nothing but what we takes from 'em by hard fighting, or running, as the
case may be."
"How's Brien looking this morning, Grady?"
"As fresh as a primrose, my lord, and as clear as crystal: he's ready,
this moment, to run through any set of three years old as could be put
on the Curragh, anyway."
"I'm afraid you're putting him on too forward."
"Too forrard, is it, my lord? not a bit. He's a hoss as naturally don't
pick up flesh; though he feeds free, too. He's this moment all wind and
bottom, though, as one may say, he's got no training. He's niver been
sthretched yet. Faith it's thrue I'm telling you, my lord."
"I know Scott doesn't like getting horses, early in the season, that
are too fine--too much drawn up; he thinks they lose power by it, and
so they do;--it's the distance that kills them, at the Derby. It's so
hard to get a young horse to stay the distance."
"That's thrue, shure enough, my lord; and there isn't a gentleman this
side the wather, anyway, undherstands thim things betther than your
lordship."
"Well, Grady, let's have a look at the young chieftain: he's all right
about the lungs, anyway."
"And feet too, my lord; niver saw a set of claner feet with plates on:
and legs too! If you were to canter him down the road, I don't think
he'd feel it; not that I'd like to thry, though."
"Why, he's not yet had much to try them."
"Faix, he has, my lord: didn't he win the Autumn Produce Stakes?"
"The only thing he ever ran for."
"Ah, but I tell you, as your lordship knows very well--no one
betther--that it's a ticklish thing to bring a two year old to the
post, in anything like condition--with any running in him at all, and
not hurt his legs."
"But I think he's all right--eh, Grady?"
"Right?--your lordship knows he's right. I wish he may be made righter
at John Scott's, that's all. But that's unpossible."
"Of course, Grady, you think he might be trained here, as well as at
the other side of the water?"
"No, I don't, my lord: quite different. I've none of thim ideas at all,
and never had, thank God. I knows what we can do, and I knows what they
can do:--breed a hoss in Ireland, train him in the North of England,
and run him in the South; and he'll do your work for you, and win your
money, steady and shure."
"And why not run in the North, too?"
"They're too 'cute, my lord: they like to pick up the crumbs
themselves--small blame to thim in that matther. No; a bright Irish
nag, with lots of heart, like Brien Boru, is the hoss to stand on for
the Derby; where all run fair and fair alike, the best wins;--but I
won't say but he'll be the betther for a little polishing at Johnny
Scott's."
"Besides, Grady, no horse could run immediately after a sea voyage. Do
you remember what a show we made of Peter Simple at Kilrue?"
"To be shure I does, my lord: besides, they've proper gallops there,
which we haven't--and they've betther manes of measuring horses:--why,
they can measure a horse to half a pound, and tell his rale pace on a
two-mile course, to a couple of seconds.--Take the sheets off, Larry,
and let his lordship run his hand over him. He's as bright as a star,
isn't he?"
"I think you're getting him too fine. I'm sure Scott'll say so."
"Don't mind him, my lord. He's not like one of those English cats, with
jist a dash of speed about 'em, and nothing more--brutes that they put
in training half a dozen times in as many months. Thim animals pick up
a lot of loose, flabby flesh in no time, and loses it in less; and, in
course, av' they gets a sweat too much, there's nothin left in 'em; not
a hapoth. Brien's a different guess sort of animal from that."
"Were you going to have him out, Grady?"
"Why, we was not--that is, only just for walking exercise, with his
sheets on: but a canter down the half mile slope, and up again by the
bushes won't go agin him."
"Well, saddle him then, and let Pat get up."
"Yes, my lord"; and Brien was saddled by the two men together, with
much care and ceremony; and Pat was put up--"and now, Pat," continued
Grady, "keep him well in hand down the slope--don't let him out at all
at all, till you come to the turn: when you're fairly round the corner,
just shake your reins the laste in life, and when you're halfway up the
rise, when the lad begins to snort a bit, let him just see the end of
the switch--just raise it till it catches his eye; and av' he don't
show that he's disposed for running, I'm mistaken. We'll step across to
the bushes, my lord, and see him come round."
Lord Ballindine and the managing man walked across to the bushes
accordingly, and Pat did exactly as he was desired. It was a pretty
thing to see the beautiful young animal, with his sleek brown coat
shining like a lady's curls, arching his neck, and throwing down his
head, in his impatience to start. He was the very picture of health and
symmetry; when he flung up his head you'd think the blood was running
from his nose, his nostrils were so ruddy bright. He cantered off in
great impatience, and fretted and fumed because the little fellow on
his back would be the master, and not let him have his play--down the
slope, and round the corner by the trees. It was beautiful to watch
him, his motions were so easy, so graceful. At the turn he answered to
the boy's encouragement, and mended his pace, till again he felt the
bridle, and then, as the jock barely moved his right arm, he bounded up
the rising ground, past the spot where Lord Ballindine and the trainer
were standing, and shot away till he was beyond the place where he
knew his gallop ordinarily ended. As Grady said, he hadn't yet been
stretched; he had never yet tried his own pace, and he had that look so
beautiful in a horse when running, of working at his ease, and much
within his power.
"He's a beautiful creature," said Lord Ballindine, as he mournfully
reflected that he was about to give up to Dot Blake half the possession
of his favourite, and the whole of the nominal title. It was such a
pity he should be so hampered; the mere _éclat_ of possessing such a
horse was so great a pleasure; "He is a fine creature," said he, "and,
I am sure, will do well."
"Your lordship may say that: he'll go precious nigh to astonish the
Saxons, I think. I suppose the pick-up at the Derby'll be nigh four
thousand this year."
"I suppose it will--something like that."
"Well; I would like a nag out of our stables to do the trick on the
downs, and av' we does it iver, it'll be now. Mr Igoe's standing a deal
of cash on him. I wonder is Mr Blake standing much on him, my lord?"
"You'd be precious deep, Grady, if you could find what he's doing in
that way."
"That's thrue for you, my lord; but av' he, or your lordship, wants
to get more on, now's the time. I'll lay twenty thousand pounds this
moment, that afther he's been a fortnight at Johnny Scott's the odds
agin him won't be more than ten to one, from that day till the morning
he comes out on the downs."
"I dare say not."
"I wondher who your lordship'll put up?"
"That must depend on Scott, and what sort of a string he has running.
He's nothing, as yet, high in the betting, except Hardicanute."
"Nothing, my lord; and, take my word for it, that horse is ownly jist
run up for the sake of the betting; that's not his nathural position.
Well, Pat, you may take the saddle off. Will your lordship see the mare
out to-day?"
"Not to-day, Grady. Let's see, what's the day she runs?"
"The fifteenth of May, my lord. I'm afraid Mr Watts' Patriot 'll be too
much for her; that's av' he'll run kind; but he don't do that always.
Well, good morning to your lordship."
"Good morning, Grady;" and Frank rode back towards Handicap Lodge.
He had a great contest with himself on his road home. He had hated
the horses two days since, when he was at Grey Abbey, and had hated
himself, for having become their possessor; and now he couldn't bear
the thought of parting with them. To be steward of the Curragh--to own
the best horse of the year--and to win the Derby, were very pleasant
things in themselves; and for what was he going to give over all this
glory, pleasure and profit, to another? To please a girl who had
rejected him, even jilted him, and to appease an old earl who had
already turned him out of his house! No, he wouldn't do it. By the time
that he was half a mile from Igoe's stables he had determined that, as
the girl was gone it would be a pity to throw the horses after her;
he would finish this year on the turf; and then, if Fanny Wyndham was
still her own mistress after Christmas, he would again ask her her
mind. "If she's a girl of spirit," he said to himself--"and nobody
knows better than I do that she is, she won't like me the worse for
having shown that I'm not to be led by the nose by a pompous old
fool like Lord Cashel," and he rode on, fortifying himself in this
resolution, for the second half mile. "But what the deuce should he do
about money?" There was only one more half mile before he was again at
Handicap Lodge.--Guinness's people had his title-deeds, and he knew
he had twelve hundred a year after paying the interest of the old
incumbrances. They hadn't advanced him much since he came of age;
certainly not above five thousand pounds; and it surely was very hard
he could not get five or six hundred pounds when he wanted it so much;
it was very hard that he shouldn't be able to do what he liked with his
own, like the Duke of Newcastle. However, the money must be had: he
must pay Blake and Tierney the balance of what they had won at whist,
and the horse couldn't go over the water till the wind was raised. If
he was driven very hard he might get something from Martin Kelly. These
unpleasant cogitations brought him over the third half mile, and he
rode through the gate of Handicap Lodge in a desperate state of
indecision.
"I'll tell you what I'll do, Dot," he said, when he met his friend
coming in from his morning's work; "and I'm deuced sorry to do it, for
I shall be giving you the best horse of his year, and something tells
me he'll win the Derby."
"I suppose 'something' means old Jack Igoe, or that blackguard Grady,"
said Dot. "But as to his winning, that's as it may be. You know the
chances are sixteen to one he won't."
"Upon my honour I don't think they are."
"Will you take twelve to one?"
"Ah! youk now, Dot, I'm not now wanting to bet on the horse with you. I
was only saying that I've a kind of inward conviction that he will
win."
"My dear Frank," said the other, "if men selling horses could also sell
their inward convictions with them, what a lot of articles of that
description there would be in the market! But what were you going to
say you'd do?"
"I'll tell you what I'll do: I'll agree to your terms providing you'll
pay half the expenses of the horses since the last race each of them
ran. You must see that would be only fair, supposing the horses
belonged to you, equally with me, ever since that time."
"It would be quite fair, no doubt, if I agreed to it: it would be quite
fair also if I agreed to give you five hundred pounds; but I will do
neither one nor the other."
"But look here, Dot--Brien ran for the Autumn Produce Stakes last
October, and won them: since then he has done nothing to reimburse me
for his expense, nor yet has anything been taken out of him by running.
Surely, if you are to have half the profits, you should at any rate pay
half the expenses?"
"That's very well put, Frank; and if you and I stood upon equal ground,
with an arbiter between us by whose decision we were bound to abide,
and to whom the settlement of the question was entrusted, your
arguments would, no doubt, be successful, but--"
"Well that's the fair way of looking at it."
"But, as I was going to say, that's not the case. We are neither of
us bound to take any one's decision; and, therefore, any terms which
either of us chooses to accept must be fair. Now I have told you my
terms--the lowest price, if you like to call it so,--at which I will
give your horses the benefit of my experience, and save you from their
immediate pecuniary pressure; and I will neither take any other terms,
nor will I press these on you."
"Why, Blake, I'd sooner deal with all the Jews of Israel--"
"Stop, Frank: one word of abuse, and I'll wash my hands of the matter
altogether."
"Wash away then, I'll keep the horses, though I have to sell my hunters
and the plate at Kelly's Court into the bargain."
"I was going to add--only your energy's far too great to allow of a
slow steady man like me finishing his sentence--I was going to say
that, if you're pressed for money as you say, and if it will be any
accommodation, I will let you have two hundred and fifty pounds at five
per cent. on the security of the horses; that is, that you will be
charged with that amount, and the interest, in the final closing of the
account at the end of the year, before the horses are restored to you."
Had an uninterested observer been standing by he might have seen with
half an eye that Blake's coolness was put on, and that his indifference
to the bargain was assumed. This offer of the loan was a second bid,
when he found the first was likely to be rejected: it was made, too,
at the time that he was positively declaring that he would make none
but the first offer. Poor Frank!--he was utterly unable to cope with
his friend at the weapons with which they were playing, and he was
consequently most egregiously plundered. But it was in an affair of
horse-flesh, and the sporting world, when it learned the terms on which
the horses were transferred from Lord Ballindine's name to that of Mr
Blake, had not a word of censure to utter against the latter. He was
pronounced to be very wide awake, and decidedly at the top of his
profession; and Lord Ballindine was spoken of, for a week, with
considerable pity and contempt.
When Blake mentioned the loan Frank got up, and stood with his back to
the fire; then bit his lips, and walked twice up and down the room,
with his hands in his pockets, and then he paused, looked out of the
window, and attempted to whistle: then he threw himself into an
armchair, poked out both his legs as far as he could, ran his fingers
through his hair, and set to work hard to make up his mind. But it was
no good; in about five minutes he found he could not do it; so he took
out his purse, and, extracting half-a-crown, threw it up to the
ceiling, saying,
"Well, Dot--head or harp? If you're right, you have them."
"Harp," cried Dot.
They both examined the coin. "They're yours," said Frank, with much
solemnity; "and now you've got the best horse--yes, I believe the very
best horse alive, for nothing."
"Only half of him, Frank."
"Well," said Frank; "it's done now, I suppose."
"Oh, of course it is," said Dot: "I'll draw out the agreement, and give
you a cheque for the money to-night."
And so he did; and Frank wrote a letter to Igoe, authorizing him to
hand over the horses to Mr Blake's groom, stating that he had sold
them--for so ran his agreement with Dot--and desiring that his bill
for training, &c., might be forthwith forwarded to Kelly's Court. Poor
Frank! he was ashamed to go to take a last look at his dear favourites,
and tell his own trainer that he had sold his own horses.
The next morning saw him, with his servant, on the Ballinasloe coach,
travelling towards Kelly's Court; and, also, saw Brien Boru, Granuell,
and Finn M'Goul led across the downs, from Igoe's stables to Handicap
Lodge.
The handsome sheets, hoods, and rollers, in which they had hitherto
appeared, and on which the initial B was alone conspicuous, were
carefully folded up, and they were henceforth seen in plainer, but as
serviceable apparel, labelled W. B.
"Will you give fourteen to one against Brien Boru?" said Viscount Avoca
to Lord Tathenham Corner, about ten days after this, at Tattersall's.
"I will," said Lord Tathenham.
"In hundreds?" said the sharp Irishman.
"Very well," said Lord Tathenham; and the bet was booked.
"You didn't know, I suppose," said the successful viscount, "that Dot
Blake has bought Brien Boru?"
"And who the devil's Dot Blake?" said Lord Tathenham.
"Oh! you'll know before May's over," said the viscount.
XVII. MARTIN KELLY'S COURTSHIP
It will be remembered that the Tuam attorney, Daly, dined with Barry
Lynch, at Dunmore House, on the same evening that Martin Kelly reached
home after his Dublin excursion; and that, on that occasion, a good
deal of interesting conversation took place after dinner. Barry,
however, was hardly amenable to reason at that social hour, and it was
not till the following morning that he became thoroughly convinced that
it would be perfectly impossible for him to make his sister out a
lunatic to the satisfaction of the Chancellor.
He then agreed to abandon the idea, and, in lieu of it, to indict,
or at any rate to threaten to indict, the widow Kelly and her son
for a conspiracy, and an attempt to inveigle his sister Anty into a
disgraceful marriage, with the object of swindling her out of her
property.
"I'll see Moylan, Mr Lynch," said Daly; "and if I can talk him over, I
think we might succeed in frightening the whole set of them, so far as
to prevent the marriage. Moylan must know that if your sister was to
marry young Kelly, there'd be an end to his agency; but we must promise
him something, Mr Lynch."
"Yes; I suppose we must pay him, before we get anything out of him."
"No, not before--but he must understand that he will get something, if
he makes himself useful. You must let me explain to him that if the
marriage is prevented, you will make no objection to his continuing to
act as Miss Lynch's agent; and I might hint the possibility of his
receiving the rents on the whole property."
"Hint what you like, Daly, but don't tie me down to the infernal
ruffian. I suppose we can throw him overboard afterwards, can't we?"
"Why, not altogether, Mr Lynch. If I make him a definite promise, I
shall expect you to keep to it."
"Confound him!--but tell me, Daly; what is it he's to do?--and what is
it we're to do?"
"Why, Mr Lynch, it's more than probable, I think, that this plan of
Martin Kelly's marrying your sisther may have been talked over between
the ould woman, Moylan, and the young man; and if so, that's something
like a conspiracy. If I could worm that out of him, I think I'd manage
to frighten them."
"And what the deuce had I better do? You see, there was a bit of a row
between us. That is, Anty got frightened when I spoke to her of this
rascal, and then she left the house. Couldn't you make her understand
that she'd be all right if she'd come to the house again?"
While Barry Lynch had been sleeping off the effects of the punch, Daly
had been inquiring into the circumstances under which Anty had left the
house, and he had pretty nearly learned the truth; he knew, therefore,
how much belief to give to his client's representation.
"I don't think," said he, "that your sister will be likely to come back
at present; she will probably find herself quieter and easier at the
inn. You see, she has been used to a quiet life."
"But, if she remains there, she can marry that young ruffian any moment
she takes it into her head to do so. There's always some rogue of a
priest ready to do a job of that sort."
"Exactly so, Mr Lynch. Of course your sister can marry whom she
pleases, and when she pleases, and neither you nor any one else can
prevent her; but still--"
"Then what the devil's the use of my paying you to come here and tell
me that?"
"That's your affair: I didn't come without being sent for. But I was
going to tell you that, though we can't prevent her from marrying if
she pleases, we may make her afraid to do so. You had better write her
a kind, affectionate note, regretting what has taken place between
you, and promising to give her no molestation of any kind, if she will
return to her own house,--and keep a copy of this letter. Then I will
see Moylan; and, if I can do anything with him, it will be necessary
that you should also see him. You could come over to Tuam, and meet
him in my office; and then I will try and force an entrance into the
widow's castle, and, if possible, see your sister, and humbug the
ould woman into a belief that she has laid herself open to criminal
indictment. We might even go so far as to have notices served on them;
but, if they snap their fingers at us, we can do nothing further. My
advice in that case would be, that you should make the best terms in
your power with Martin Kelly."
"And let the whole thing go! I'd sooner--Why, Daly, I believe you're as
bad as Blake! You're afraid of these huxtering thieves!"
"If you go on in that way, Mr Lynch, you'll get no professional
gentleman to act with you. I give you my best advice; it you don't like
it, you needn't follow it; but you won't get a solicitor in Connaught
to do better for you than what I'm proposing."
"Confusion!" muttered Barry, and he struck the hot turf in the grate a
desperate blow with the tongs which he had in his hands, and sent the
sparks and bits of fire flying about the hearth.
"The truth is, you see, your sister's in her full senses; there's the
divil a doubt of that; the money's her own, and she can marry whom she
pleases. All that we can do is to try and make the Kellys think they
have got into a scrape."
"But this letter--What on earth am I to say to her?"
"I'll just put down what I would say, were I you; and if you like you
can copy it." Daly then wrote the following letter--
My Dear Anty,
Before taking other steps, which could not fail of being very
disagreeable to you and to others, I wish to point out to you how
injudiciously you are acting in leaving your own house; and to try
to induce you to do that which will be most beneficial to yourself,
and most conducive to your happiness and respectability. If you
will return to Dunmore House, I most solemnly promise to leave you
unmolested. I much regret that my violence on Thursday should have
annoyed you, but I can assure you it was attributable merely to my
anxiety on your account. Nothing, however, shall induce me to repeat
it. But you must be aware that a little inn is not a fit place for
you to be stopping at; and I am obliged to tell you that I have
conclusive evidence of a conspiracy having been formed, by the
family with whom you are staying, to get possession of your money;
and that this conspiracy was entered into very shortly after the
contents of my father's will had been made public. I _must_ have
this fact proved at the Assizes, and the disreputable parties to it
punished, unless you will consent, at any rate for a time, to put
yourself under the protection of your brother.
In the meantime pray believe me, dear Anty, in spite of
appearances,
Your affectionate brother,
BARRY LYNCH.
It was then agreed that this letter should be copied and signed by
Barry, and delivered by Terry on the following morning, which was
Sunday. Daly then returned to Tuam, with no warm admiration for his
client.
In the meantime the excitement at the inn, arising from Anty's arrival
and Martin's return, was gradually subsiding. These two important
events, both happening on the same day, sadly upset the domestic
economy of Mrs Kelly's establishment. Sally had indulged in tea almost
to stupefaction, and Kattie's elfin locks became more than ordinarily
disordered. On the following morning, however, things seemed to fall
a little more into their places: the widow was, as usual, behind her
counter; and if her girls did not give her as much assistance as she
desired of them, and as much as was usual with them, they were perhaps
excusable, for they could not well leave their new guest alone on the
day after her coming to them.
Martin went out early to Toneroe; doubtless the necessary labours of
the incipient spring required him at the farm but I believe that if his
motives were analysed, he hardly felt himself up to a _tête-à-tête_
with his mistress, before he had enjoyed a cool day's consideration of
the extraordinary circumstances which had brought her into the inn as
his mother's guest. He, moreover, wished to have a little undisturbed
conversation with Meg, and to learn from her how Anty might be inclined
towards him just at present. So Martin spent his morning among his
lambs and his ploughs; and was walking home, towards dusk, tired
enough, when he met Barry Lynch, on horseback, that hero having come
out, as usual, for his solitary ride, to indulge in useless dreams of
the happy times he would have, were his sister only removed from her
tribulations in this world. Though Martin had never been on friendly
terms with his more ambitious neighbour, there had never, up to this
time, been any quarrel between them, and he therefore just muttered
"Good morning, Mr Lynch," as he passed him on the road.
Barry said nothing, and did not appear to see him as he passed; but
some idea struck him as soon as he had passed, and he pulled in his
horse and hallooed out "Kelly!"--and, as Martin stopped, he added,
"Come here a moment--I want to speak to you."
"Well, Mr Barry, what is it?" said the other, returning. Lynch paused,
and evidently did not know whether to speak or let it alone. At last he
said, "Never mind--I'll get somebody else to say what I was going to
say. But you'd better look sharp what you're about, my lad, or you'll
find yourself in a scrape that you don't dream of."
"And is that all you called me back for?" said Martin.
"That's all I mean to say to you at present."
"Well then, Mr Lynch, I must say you're very good, and I'm shure I will
look sharp enough. But, to my thinking, d'you know, you want looking
afther yourself a precious dale more than I do," and then he turned to
proceed homewards, but said, as he was going--"Have you any message for
your sisther, Mr Lynch?"
"By--! my young man, I'll make you pay for what you're doing," answered
Barry.
"I know you'll be glad to hear she's pretty well: she's coming round
from the thratement she got the other night; though, by all accounts,
it's a wondher she's alive this moment to tell of it."
Barry did not attempt any further reply, but rode on, sorry enough that
he had commenced the conversation. Martin got home in time for a snug
tea with Anty and his sisters, and succeeded in prevailing on the three
to take each a glass of punch; and, before Anty went to bed he began
to find himself more at his ease with her, and able to call her by her
Christian name without any disagreeable emotion. He certainly had a
most able coadjutor in Meg. She made room on the sofa for him between
herself and his mistress, and then contrived that the room should be
barely sufficient, so that Anty was rather closely hemmed up in one
corner: moreover, she made Anty give her opinion as to Martin's looks
after his metropolitan excursion, and tried hard to make Martin pay
some compliments to Anty's appearance. But in this she failed, although
she gave him numerous opportunities.
However, they passed the evening very comfortably,--quite sufficiently
so to make Anty feel that the kindly, humble friendship of the inn was
infinitely preferable to the miserable grandeur of Dunmore House; and
it is probable that all the lovemaking in the world would not have
operated so strongly in Martin's favour as this feeling. Meg, however,
was not satisfied, for as soon as she had seen Jane and Anty into the
bed-room she returned to her brother, and lectured him as to his
lukewarm manifestations of affection.
"Martin," said she, returning into the little sitting-room, and
carefully shutting the door after her, "you're the biggest bosthoon of
a gandher I ever see, to be losing your opportunities with Anty this
way! I b'lieve it's waiting you are for herself to come forward to you.
Do you think a young woman don't expect something more from a lover
than jist for you to sit by her, and go on all as one as though she
was one of your own sisthers? Av' once she gets out of this before the
priest has made one of the two of you, mind, I tell you, it'll be all
up with you. I wondher, Martin, you haven't got more pluck in you!"
"Oh! bother, Meg. You're thinking of nothing but kissing and
slobbhering.--Anty's not the same as you and Jane, and doesn't be all
agog for such nonsense!"
"I tell you, Martin, Anty's a woman; and, take my word for it, what
another girl likes won't come amiss to her. Besides, why don't you
spake to her?"
"Spake?--why, what would you have me spake?"
"Well, Martin, you're a fool. Have you, or have you not, made up your
mind to marry Anty?"
"To be shure I will, av' she'll have me."
"And do you expect her to have you without asking?"
"Shure, you know, didn't I ask her often enough?"
"Ah, but you must do more than jist ask her that way. She'll never make
up her mind to go before the priest, unless you say something sthronger
to her. Jist tell her, plump out, you're ready and willing, and get the
thing done before Lent. What's to hindher you?--shure, you know," she
added, in a whisper, "you'll not get sich a fortune as Anty's in your
way every day. Spake out, man, and don't be afraid of her: take my word
she won't like you a bit the worse for a few kisses."
Martin promised to comply with his sister's advice, and to sound Anty
touching their marriage on the following morning after mass.
On the Sunday morning, at breakfast, the widow proposed to Anty that
she should go to mass with herself and her daughters; but Anty trembled
so violently at the idea of showing herself in public, after her escape
from Dunmore House, that the widow did not press her to do so, although
afterwards she expressed her disapprobation of Anty's conduct to her
own girls.
"I don't see what she has to be afeard of," said she, "in going to
get mass from her own clergyman in her own chapel. She don't think, I
suppose, that Barry Lynch'd dare come in there to pull her out, before
the blessed altar, glory be to God."
"Ah but, mother, you know, she has been so frighted."
"Frighted, indeed! She'll get over these tantrums, I hope, before
Sunday next, or I know where I'll wish her again."
So Anty was left at home, and the rest of the family went to mass. When
the women returned, Meg manoeuvred greatly, and, in fine, successfully,
that no one should enter the little parlour to interrupt the wooing she
intended should take place there. She had no difficulty with Jane, for
she told her what her plans were; and though her less energetic sister
did not quite agree in the wisdom of her designs, and pronounced an
opinion that it would be "better to let things settle down a bit,"
still she did not presume to run counter to Meg's views; but Meg had
some work to dispose of her mother. It would not have answered at all,
as Meg had very well learned herself, to caution her mother not to
interrupt Martin in his love-making, for the widow had no charity for
such follies. She certainly expected her daughters to get married, and
wished them to be well and speedily settled; but she watched anything
like a flirtation on their part as closely as a cat does a mouse.
If any young man were in the house, she'd listen to the fall of his
footsteps with the utmost care; and when she had reason to fear that
there was anything like a lengthened _tête-à-tête_ upstairs, she would
steal on the pair, if possible, unawares, and interrupt, without the
least reserve, any billing and cooing which might be going on, sending
the delinquent daughter to her work, and giving a glower at the swain,
which she expected might be sufficient to deter him from similar
offences for some little time.
The girls, consequently, were taught to be on the alert--to steal about
on tiptoe, to elude their mother's watchful ear, to have recourse to a
thousand little methods of deceiving her, and to baffle her with her
own weapons. The mother, if she suspected that any prohibited frolic
was likely to be carried on, at a late hour, would tell her daughters
that she was going to bed, and would shut herself up for a couple of
hours in her bed-room, and then steal out eavesdropping, peeping
through key-holes and listening at door-handles; and the daughters,
knowing their mother's practice, would not come forth till the
listening and peeping had been completed, and till they had
ascertained, by some infallible means, that the old woman was between
the sheets.
Each party knew the tricks of the other; and yet, taking it all in all,
the widow got on very well with her children, and everybody said what
a good mother she had been: she was accustomed to use deceit, and was
therefore not disgusted by it in others. Whether the system of domestic
manners which I have described is one likely to induce to sound
restraint and good morals is a question which I will leave to be
discussed by writers on educational points.
However Meg managed it, she did contrive that her mother should not go
near the little parlour this Sunday morning, and Anty was left alone,
to receive her lover's visit. I regret to say that he was long in
paying it. He loitered about the chapel gates before he came home; and
seemed more than usually willing to talk to anyone about anything. At
last, however, just as Meg was getting furious, he entered the inn.
"Why, Martin, you born ideot--av' she ain't waiting for you this hour
and more!"
"Thim that's long waited for is always welcome when they do come,"
replied Martin.
"Well afther all I've done for you! Are you going in now?--cause, av'
you don't, I'll go and tell her not to be tasing herself about you.
I'll neither be art or part in any such schaming."
"Schaming, is it, Meg? Faith, it'd be a clever fellow'd beat you at
that," and, without waiting for his sister's sharp reply, he walked
into the little room where Anty was sitting.
"So, Anty, you wouldn't come to mass?" he began.
"Maybe I'll go next Sunday," said she.
"It's a long time since you missed mass before, I'm thinking."
"Not since the Sunday afther father's death."
"It's little you were thinking then how soon you'd be stopping down
here with us at the inn."
"That's thrue for you, Martin, God knows."
At this point of the conversation Martin stuck fast: he did not know
Rosalind's recipe [29] for the difficulty a man feels, when he finds
himself gravelled for conversation with his mistress; so he merely
scratched his head, and thought hard to find what he'd say next. I
doubt whether the conviction, which was then strong on his mind, that
Meg was listening at the keyhole to every word that passed, at all
assisted him in the operation. At last, some Muse came to his aid, and
he made out another sentence.
[FOOTNOTE 29: Rosalind's recipe--In _As You Like It_, Act III,
Sc. ii, Rosalind, disguised as a young man,
instructs Orlando to practice his wooing on her.]
"It was very odd my finding you down here, all ready before me, wasn't
it?"
"'Deed it was: your mother was a very good woman to me that morning,
anyhow."
"And tell me now, Anty, do you like the inn?"
"'Deed I do--but it's quare, like."
"How quare?"
"Why, having Meg and Jane here: I wasn't ever used to anyone to talk
to, only just the servants."
"You'll have plenty always to talk to now--eh, Anty?" and Martin tried
a sweet look at his lady love.
"I'm shure I don't know. Av' I'm only left quiet, that's what I most
care about."
"But, Anty, tell me--you don't want always to be what you call quiet?"
"Oh! but I do--why not?"
"But you don't mane, Anty, that you wouldn't like to have some kind of
work to do--some occupation, like?"
"Why, I wouldn't like to be idle; but a person needn't be idle because
they're quiet."
"And that's thrue, Anty." And Martin broke down again.
"There'd be a great crowd in chapel, I suppose?" said Anty.
"There was a great crowd."
"And what was father Geoghegan preaching about?"
"Well, then, I didn't mind. To tell the truth, Anty, I came out most
as soon as the preaching began; only I know he told the boys to pray
that the liberathor might be got out of his throubles; and so they
should--not that there's much to throuble him, as far as the verdict's
concerned."
"Isn't there then? I thought they made him out guilty?"
"So they did, the false ruffians: but what harum 'll that do? they
daren't touch a hair of his head!"
Politics, however, are not a favourable introduction to love-making:
so Martin felt, and again gave up the subject, in the hopes that he
might find something better. "What a fool the man is!" thought Meg to
herself, at the door--"if I had a lover went on like that, wouldn't I
pull his ears!"
Martin got up--walked across the room--looked out of the little
window--felt very much ashamed of himself, and, returning, sat himself
down on the sofa.
"Anty," he said, at last, blushing nearly brown as he spoke; "Were you
thinking of what I was spaking to you about before I went to Dublin?"
Anty blushed also, now. "About what?" she said.
"Why, just about you and me making a match of it. Come, Anty, dear,
what's the good of losing time? I've been thinking of little else; and,
after what's been between us, you must have thought the matther over
too, though you do let on to be so innocent. Come, Anty, now that you
and mother's so thick, there can be nothing against it."
"But indeed there is, Martin, a great dale against it--though I'm sure
it's good of you to be thinking of me. There's so much against it, I
think we had betther be of one mind, and give it over at once."
"And what's to hinder us marrying, Anty, av' yourself is plazed? Av'
you and I, and mother are plazed, sorrow a one that I know of has a
word to say in the matther."
"But Barry don't like it!"
"And, afther all, are you going to wait for what Barry likes? You
didn't wait for what was plazing to Barry Lynch when you came down
here; nor yet did mother when she went up and fetched you down at five
in the morning, dreading he'd murdher you outright. And it was thrue
for her, for he would, av' he was let, the brute. And are you going to
wait for what he likes?"
"Whatever he's done, he's my brother; and there's only the two of us."
"But it's not that, Anty--don't you know it's not that? Isn't it
because you're afraid of him? because he threatened and frightened you?
And what on 'arth could he do to harum you av' you was the wife of--of
a man who'd, anyway, not let Barry Lynch, or anyone else, come between
you and your comfort and aise?"
"But you don't know how wretched I've been since he spoke to me
about--about getting myself married: you don't know what I've suffered;
and I've a feeling that good would never come of it."
"And, afther all, are you going to tell me now, that I may jist go my
own way? Is that to be your answer, and all I'm to get from you?"
"Don't be angry with me, Martin. I'm maning to do everything for the
best."
"Maning?--what's the good of maning? Anyways, Anty, let me have an
answer, for I'll not be making a fool of myself any longer. Somehow,
all the boys here, every sowl in Dunmore, has it that you and I is to
be married--and now, afther promising me as you did--"
"Oh, I never promised, Martin."
"It was all one as a promise--and now I'm to be thrown overboard. And
why?--because Barry Lynch got dhrunk, and frightened you. Av' I'd seen
the ruffian striking you, I think I'd 've been near putting it beyond
him to strike another woman iver again."
"Glory be to God that you wasn't near him that night," said Anty,
crossing herself. "It was bad enough, but av' the two of you should
ever be set fighting along of me, it would kill me outright."
"But who's talking of fighting, Anty, dear?" and Martin drew a little
nearer to her--"who's talking of fighting? I never wish to spake
another word to Barry the longest day that ever comes. Av' he'll get
out of my way, I'll go bail he'll not find me in his."
"But he wouldn't get out of your way, nor get out of mine, av' you and
I got married: he'd be in our way, and we'd be in his, and nothing
could iver come of it but sorrow and misery, and maybe bloodshed."
"Them's all a woman's fears. Av' you an I were once spliced by the
priest, God bless him, Barry wouldn't trouble Dunmore long afther."
"That's another rason, too. Why should I be dhriving him out of his own
house? you know he's a right to the house, as well as I."
"Who's talking of dhriving him out? Faith, he'd be welcome to stay
there long enough for me! He'd go, fast enough, without dhriving,
though; you can't say the counthry wouldn't have a good riddhance of
him. But never mind that, Anty: it wasn't about Barry, one way or the
other, I was thinking, when I first asked you to have me; nor it wasn't
about myself altogether, as I could let you know; though, in course,
I'm not saying but that myself's as dear to myself as another, an'
why not? But to tell the blessed truth, I was thinking av' you too;
and that you'd be happier and asier, let alone betther an' more
respecthable, as an honest man's wife, as I'd make you, than being
mewed up there in dread of your life, never daring to open your mouth
to a Christian, for fear of your own brother, who niver did, nor niver
will lift a hand to sarve you, though he wasn't backward to lift it to
sthrike you, woman and sisther though you were. Come, Anty, darlin," he
added, after a pause, during which he managed to get his arm behind
her back, though he couldn't be said to have it fairly round her
waist--"Get quit of all these quandaries, and say at once, like an
honest girl, you'll do what I'm asking--and what no living man can
hindher you from or say against it.--Or else jist fairly say you won't,
and I'll have done with it."
Anty sat silent, for she didn't like to say she wouldn't; and she
thought of her brother's threats, and was afraid to say she would.
Martin advanced a little in his proceedings, however, and now succeeded
in getting his arm round her waist--and, having done so, he wasn't slow
in letting her feel its pressure. She made an attempt, with her hand,
to disengage herself--certainly not a successful, and, probably, not a
very energetic attempt, when the widow's step was heard on the stairs.
Martin retreated from his position on the sofa, and Meg from hers
outside the door, and Mrs Kelly entered the room, with Barry's letter
in her hand, Meg following, to ascertain the cause of the unfortunate
interruption.
XVIII. AN ATTORNEY'S OFFICE IN CONNAUGHT
"Anty, here's a letter for ye," began the widow. "Terry's brought it
down from the house, and says it's from Misther Barry. I b'lieve he was
in the right not to bring it hisself."
"A letther for me, Mrs Kelly? what can he be writing about? I don't
just know whether I ought to open it or no;" and Anty trembled, as she
turned the epistle over and over again in her hands.
"What for would you not open it? The letther can't hurt you, girl,
whatever the writher might do."
Thus encouraged, Anty broke the seal, and made herself acquainted with
the contents of the letter which Daly had dictated; but she then found
that her difficulties had only just commenced. Was she to send an
answer, and if so, what answer? And if she sent none, what notice ought
she to take of it? The matter was one evidently too weighty to be
settled by her own judgment, so she handed the letter to be read, first
by the widow, and then by Martin, and lastly by the two girls, who, by
this time, were both in the room.
"Well, the dethermined impudence of that blackguard!" exclaimed Mrs
Kelly. "Conspiracy!--av' that don't bang Banagher! What does the man
mean by 'conspiracy,' eh, Martin?"
"Faith, you must ask himself that, mother; and then it's ten to one he
can't tell you."
"I suppose," said Meg, "he wants to say that we're all schaming to rob
Anty of her money--only he daren't, for the life of him, spake it out
straight forrard."
"Or, maybe," suggested Jane, "he wants to bring something agen us like
this affair of O'Connell's--only he'll find, down here, that he an't
got Dublin soft goods to deal wid."
Then followed a consultation, as to the proper steps to be taken in the
matter.
The widow advised that father Geoghegan should be sent for to indite
such a reply as a Christian ill-used woman should send to so base a
letter. Meg, who was very hot on the subject, and who had read of some
such proceeding in a novel, was for putting up in a blank envelope the
letter itself, and returning it to Barry by the hands of Jack, the
ostler; at the same time, she declared that "No surrender" should be
her motto. Jane was of opinion that "Miss Anastasia Lynch's compliments
to Mr Barry Lynch, and she didn't find herself strong enough to move to
Dunmore House at present," would answer all purposes, and be, on the
whole, the safest course. While Martin pronounced that "if Anty would
be led by him, she'd just pitch the letter behind the fire an' take no
notice of it, good, bad, or indifferent."
None of these plans pleased Anty, for, as she remarked, "After all,
Barry was her brother, and blood was thickher than wather." So, after
much consultation, pen, ink, and paper were procured, and the following
letter was concocted between them, all the soft bits having been great
stumbling-blocks, in which, however, Anty's quiet perseverance carried
the point, in opposition to the wishes of all the Kellys. The words put
in brackets were those peculiarly objected to.
Dunmore Inn. February, 1844.
DEAR BARRY,
I (am very sorry I) can't come back to the house, at any rate just
at present. I am not very sthrong in health, and there are kind
female friends about me here, which you know there couldn't be up at
the house.
Anty herself, in the original draft inserted "ladies," but the widow's
good sense repudiated the term, and insisted on the word "females":
Jane suggested that "females" did not sound quite respectful alone, and
Martin thought that Anty might call them "female friends," which was
consequently done.
--Besides, there are reasons why I'm quieter here, till things are a
little more settled. I will forgive (and forget) all that happened
up at the house between us--
"Why, you can't forget it," said Meg. "Oh, I could, av' he was kind to
me. I'd forget it all in a week av' he was kind to me," answered Anty--
(and I will do nothing particular without first letting you know).
They were all loud against this paragraph, but they could not carry
their point.
I must tell you, dear Barry, that you are very much mistaken about
the people of this house: they are dear, kind friends to me, and,
wherever I am, I must love them to the last day of my life--but
indeed I am, and hope you believe so,
Your affectionate sister,
ANASTASIA LYNCH.
When the last paragraph was read over Anty's shoulder, Meg declared she
was a dear, dear creature: Jane gave her a big kiss, and began crying;
even the widow put the corner of her apron to her eye, and Martin,
trying to look manly and unconcerned, declared that he was "quite shure
they all loved her, and they'd be brutes and bastes av' they didn't!"
The letter, as given above, was finally decided on; written, sealed,
and despatched by Jack, who was desired to be very particular to
deliver it at the front door, with Miss Lynch's love, which was
accordingly done. All the care, however, which had been bestowed on it
did not make it palatable to Barry, who was alone when he received it,
and merely muttered, as he read it, "Confound her, low-minded slut!
friends, indeed! what business has she with friends, except such as
I please?--if I'd the choosing of her friends, they'd be a strait
waistcoat, and the madhouse doctor. Good Heaven! that half my
property--no, but two-thirds of it,--should belong to her!--the stupid,
stiff-necked robber!"
These last pleasant epithets had reference to his respected progenitor.
On the same evening, after tea, Martin endeavoured to make a little
further advance with Anty, for he felt that he had been interrupted
just as she was coming round; but her nerves were again disordered, and
he soon found that if he pressed her now, he should only get a decided
negative, which he might find it very difficult to induce her to
revoke.
Anty's letter was sent off early on the Monday morning--at least, as
early as Barry now ever managed to do anything--to the attorney at
Tuam, with strong injunctions that no time was to be lost in taking
further steps, and with a request that Daly would again come out to
Dunmore. This, however, he did not at present think it expedient to do.
So he wrote to Barry, begging him to come into Tuam on the Wednesday,
to meet Moylan, whom he, Daly, would, if possible, contrive to see on
the intervening day.
"Obstinate puppy!" said Barry to himself--"if he'd had the least pluck
in life he'd have broken the will, or at least made the girl out a
lunatic. But a Connaught lawyer hasn't half the wit or courage now that
he used to have." However, he wrote a note to Daly, agreeing to his
proposal, and promising to be in Tuam at two o'clock on the Wednesday.
On the following day Daly saw Moylan, and had a long conversation with
him. The old man held out for a long time, expressing much indignation
at being supposed capable of joining in any underhand agreement for
transferring Miss Lynch's property to his relatives the Kellys, and
declaring that he would make public to every one in Dunmore and Tuam
the base manner in which Barry Lynch was treating his sister. Indeed,
Moylan kept to his story so long and so firmly that the young attorney
was nearly giving him up; but at last he found his weak side.
"Well, Mr Moylan," he said, "then I can only say your own conduct is
very disinterested;--and I might even go so far as to say that you
appear to me foolishly indifferent to your own concerns. Here's the
agency of the whole property going a-begging: the rents, I believe, are
about a thousand a-year: you might be recaving them all by jist a word
of your mouth, and that only telling the blessed truth; and here,
you're going to put the whole thing into the hands of young Kelly;
throwing up even the half of the business you have got!"
"Who says I'm afther doing any sich thing, Mr Daly?"
"Why, Martin Kelly says so. Didn't as many as four or five persons hear
him say, down at Dunmore, that divil a one of the tenants'd iver pay a
haporth [30] of the November rents to anyone only jist to himself?
There was father Geoghegan heard him, an Doctor Ned Blake."
[FOOTNOTE 30: haporth--half-penny's worth]
"Maybe he'll find his mistake, Mr Daly."
"Maybe he will, Mr Moylan. Maybe we'll put the whole affair into
the courts, and have a regular recaver over the property, under the
Chancellor. People, though they're ever so respectable in their
way,--and I don't mane to say a word against the Kellys, Mr Moylan, for
they were always friends of mine--but people can't be allowed to make a
dead set at a property like this, and have it all their own way, like
the bull in the china-shop. I know there has been an agreement made,
and that, in the eye of the law, is a conspiracy. I positively know
that an agreement has been made to induce Miss Lynch to become Martin
Kelly's wife; and I know the parties to it, too; and I also know that
an active young fellow like him wouldn't be paying an agent to get in
his rents; and I thought, if Mr Lynch was willing to appoint you his
agent, as well as his sister's, it might be worth your while to lend us
a hand to settle this affair, without forcing us to stick people into a
witness-box whom neither I nor Mr Lynch--"
"But what the d----l can I--"
"Jist hear me out, Mr Moylan; you see, if they once knew--the Kellys I
mane--that you wouldn't lend a hand to this piece of iniquity--"
"Which piece of iniquity, Mr Daly?--for I'm entirely bothered."
"Ah, now, Mr Moylan, none of your fun: this piece of iniquity of
theirs, I say; for I can call it no less. If they once knew that you
wouldn't help 'em, they'd be obliged to drop it all; the matter'd never
have to go into court at all, and you'd jist step into the agency fair
and aisy; and, into the bargain, you'd do nothing but an honest man's
work."
The old man broke down, and consented to "go agin the Kellys," as he
somewhat ambiguously styled his apostasy, provided the agency was
absolutely promised to him; and he went away with the understanding
that he was to come on the following day and meet Mr Lynch.
At two o'clock, punctual to the time of his appointment, Moylan was
there, and was kept waiting an hour in Daly's little parlour. At the
end of this time Barry came in, having invigorated his courage and
spirits with a couple of glasses of brandy. Daly had been for some time
on the look-out for him, for he wished to say a few words to him in
private, and give him his cue before he took him into the room where
Moylan was sitting. This could not well be done in the office, for
it was crowded. It would, I think, astonish a London attorney in
respectable practice, to see the manner in which his brethren towards
the west of Ireland get through their work. Daly's office was open to
all the world; the front door of the house, of which he rented the
ground floor, was never closed, except at night; nor was the door of
the office, which opened immediately into the hail.
During the hour that Moylan was waiting in the parlour, Daly was
sitting, with his hat on, upon a high stool, with his feet resting on a
small counter which ran across the room, smoking a pipe: a boy, about
seventeen years of age, Daly's clerk, was filling up numbers of those
abominable formulas of legal persecution in which attorneys deal, and
was plying his trade as steadily as though no February blasts were
blowing in on him through the open door, no sounds of loud and
boisterous conversation were rattling in his ears. The dashing manager
of one of the branch banks in the town was sitting close to the little
stove, and raking out the turf ashes with the office rule, while
describing a drinking-bout that had taken place on the previous
Sunday at Blake's of Blakemount; he had a cigar in his mouth, and was
searching for a piece of well-kindled turf, wherewith to light it. A
little fat oily shopkeeper in the town, who called himself a woollen
merchant, was standing with the raised leaf of the counter in his
hand, roaring with laughter at the manager's story. Two frieze coated
farmers, outside the counter, were stretching across it, and whispering
very audibly to Daly some details of litigation which did not appear
very much to interest him; and a couple of idle blackguards were
leaning against the wall, ready to obey any behest of the attorney's
which might enable them to earn a sixpence without labour, and
listening with all their ears to the different interesting topics of
conversation which might be broached in the inner office.
"Here's the very man I'm waiting for, at last," said Daly, when, from
his position on the stool, he saw, through the two open doors, the
bloated red face of Barry Lynch approaching; and, giving an impulse to
his body by a shove against the wall behind him, he raised himself on
to the counter, and, assisting himself by a pull at the collar of the
frieze coat of the farmer who was in the middle of his story, jumped to
the ground, and met his client at the front door.
"I beg your pardon, Mr Lynch," said he as soon as he had shaken hands
with him, "but will you just step up to my room a minute, for I want to
spake to you;" and he took him up into his bed-room, for he hadn't a
second sitting-room. "You'll excuse my bringing you up here, for the
office was full, you see, and Moylan's in the parlour."
"The d----l he is! He came round then, did he, eh, Daly?"
"Oh, I've had a terrible hard game to play with him. I'd no idea he'd
be so tough a customer, or make such a good fight; but I think I've
managed him."
"There was a regular plan then, eh, Daly? Just as I said. It was a
regular planned scheme among them?"
"Wait a moment, and you'll know all about it, at least as much as I
know myself; and, to tell the truth, that's devilish little. But, if we
manage to break off the match, and get your sister clane out of the inn
there, you must give Moylan your agency, at any rate for two or three
years."
"You haven't promised that?"
"But I have, though. We can do nothing without it: it was only when I
hinted that, that the old sinner came round."
"But what the deuce is it he's to do for us, after all?"
"He's to allow us to put him forward as a bugbear, to frighten the
Kellys with: that's all, and, if we can manage that, that's enough. But
come down now. I only wanted to warn you that, if you think the agency
is too high a price to pay for the man's services, whatever they may
be, you must make up your mind to dispense with them."
"Well," answered Barry, as he followed the attorney downstairs, "I
can't understand what you're about; but I suppose you must be right;"
and they went into the little parlour where Moylan was sitting.
Moylan and Barry Lynch had only met once, since the former had been
entrusted to receive Anty's rents, on which occasion Moylan had been
grossly insulted by her brother. Barry, remembering the meeting, felt
very awkward at the idea of entering into amicable conversation with
him, and crept in at the door like a whipped dog. Moylan was too old
to feel any such compunctions, and consequently made what he intended
to be taken as a very complaisant bow to his future patron. He was
an ill-made, ugly, stumpy man, about fifty; with a blotched face,
straggling sandy hair, and grey shaggy whiskers. He wore a long brown
great coat, buttoned up to his chin, and this was the only article of
wearing apparel visible upon him: in his hands he twirled a shining new
four-and-fourpenny hat.
As soon as their mutual salutations were over, Daly commenced his
business.
"There is no doubt in the world, Mr Lynch," said he, addressing Barry,
"that a most unfair attempt has been made by this family to get
possession of your sister's property--a most shameful attempt, which
the law will no doubt recognise as a misdemeanour. But I think we shall
be able to stop their game without any law at all, which will save
us the annoyance of putting Mr Moylan here, and other respectable
witnesses, on the table. Mr Moylan says that very soon afther your
father's will was made known--"
"Now, Mr Daly--shure I niver said a word in life at all about the
will," said Moylan, interrupting him.
"No, you did not: I mane, very soon afther you got the agency--"
"Divil a word I said about the agency, either."
"Well, well; some time ago--he says that, some time ago, he and Martin
Kelly were talking over your sister's affairs; I believe the widow was
there, too."
"Ah, now, Mr Daly--why'd you be putting them words into my mouth?
sorrow a word of the kind I iver utthered at all."
"What the deuce was it you did say, then?"
"Faix, I don't know that I said much, at all."
"Didn't you say, Mr Moylan, that Martin Kelly was talking to you about
marrying Anty, some six weeks ago?"
"Maybe I did; he was spaking about it."
"And, if you were in the chair now, before a jury, wouldn't you swear
that there was a schame among them to get Anty Lynch married to Martin
Kelly? Come, Mr Moylan, that's all we want to know: if you can't say as
much as that for us now, just that we may let the Kellys know what sort
of evidence we could bring against them, if they push us, we must only
have you and others summoned, and see what you'll have to say then."
"Oh, I'd say the truth, Mr Daly--divil a less--and I'd do as much as
that now; but I thought Mr Lynch was wanting to say something about the
property?"
"Not a word then I've to say about it," said Barry, "except that I
won't let that robber, young Kelly, walk off with it, as long as
there's law in the land."
"Mr Moylan probably meant about the agency," observed Daly.
Barry looked considerably puzzled, and turned to the attorney for
assistance. "He manes," continued Daly, "that he and the Kellys are
good friends, and it wouldn't be any convenience to him just to say
anything that wouldn't be pleasing to them, unless we could make him
independent of them:--isn't that about the long and the short of it, Mr
Moylan?"
"Indepindent of the Kellys, is it, Mr Daly?--Faix, thin, I'm teetotally
indepindent of them this minute, and mane to continue so, glory be to
God. Oh, I'm not afeard to tell the thruth agin ere a Kelly in Galway
or Roscommon--and, av' that was all, I don't see why I need have come
here this day. When I'm called upon in the rigular way, and has a
rigular question put me before the Jury, either at Sessions or 'Sizes,
you'll find I'll not be bothered for an answer, and, av' that's all, I
b'lieve I may be going,"--and he made a movement towards the door.
"Just as you please, Mr Moylan," said Daly; "and you may be sure that
you'll not be long without an opportunity of showing how free you are
with your answers. But, as a friend, I tell you you'll be wrong to lave
this room till you've had a little more talk with Mr Lynch and myself.
I believe I mentioned to you Mr Lynch was looking out for someone to
act as agent over his portion of the Dunmore property?"
Barry looked as black as thunder, but he said nothing.
"You war, Mr Daly. Av' I could accommodate Mr Lynch, I'm shure I'd be
happy to undhertake the business."
"I believe, Mr Lynch," said Daly, turning to the other, "I may go so
far as to promise Mr Moylan the agency of the whole property, provided
Miss Lynch is induced to quit the house of the Kellys? Of course, Mr
Moylan, you can see that as long as Miss Lynch is in a position of
unfortunate hostility to her brother, the same agent could not act for
both; but I think my client is inclined to put his property under your
management, providing his sister returns to her own home. I believe I'm
stating your wishes, Mr Lynch."
"Manage it your own way," said Barry, "for I don't see what you're
doing. If this man can do anything for me, why, I suppose I must pay
him for it; and if so, your plan's as good a way of paying him as
another."
The attorney raised his hat with his hand, and scratched his head: he
was afraid that Moylan would have again gone off in a pet at Lynch's
brutality, but the old man sat quite quiet. He wouldn't have much
minded what was said to him, as long as he secured the agency.
"You see, Mr Moylan," continued Daly, "you can have the agency. Five
per cent. upon the rents is what my client--"
"No, Daly--Five per cent.!--I'm shot if I do!" exclaimed Barry.
"I'm gething twenty-five pounds per annum from Miss Anty, for her half,
and I wouldn't think of collecting the other for less," declared
Moylan.
And then a long battle followed on this point, which it required all
Daly's tact and perseverance to adjust. The old man was pertinacious,
and many whispers had to be made into Barry's ear before the matter
could be settled. It was, however, at last agreed that notice was to be
served on the Kellys, of Barry Lynch's determination to indict them for
a conspiracy; that Daly was to see the widow, Martin, and, if possible,
Anty, and tell them all that Moylan was prepared to prove that such a
conspiracy had been formed;--care was also to be taken that copies of
the notices so served should be placed in Anty's hands. Moylan, in the
meantime, agreed to keep out of the way, and undertook, should he be
unfortunate enough to encounter any of the family of the Kellys, to
brave the matter out by declaring that "av' he war brought before the
Judge and Jury he couldn't do more than tell the blessed thruth, and
why not?" In reward for this, he was to be appointed agent over the
entire property the moment that Miss Lynch left the inn, at which time
he was to receive a document, signed by Barry, undertaking to retain
him in the agency for four years certain, or else to pay him a hundred
pounds when it was taken from him.
These terms having been mutually agreed to, and Barry having, with many
oaths, declared that he was a most shamefully ill-used man, the three
separated. Moylan skulked off to one of his haunts in the town; Barry
went to the bank, to endeavour to get a bill discounted [30]; and Daly
returned to his office, to prepare the notices for the unfortunate
widow and her son.
[FOOTNOTE 30: bill discounted--A common way for young men to
borrow money in nineteenth century Britain was to
sign a promissory note (an "I.O.U."), often called a
"bill," to repay the loan at a specified time. The
lender gave the borrower less than the face value
of the note (that is, he "discounted" the note),
the difference being the interest. Sometimes these
notes were co-signed by a third party, who became
responsible for repaying the loan if the borrower
defaulted; this is one of the major themes in
Trollope's later book _Framley Parsonage_. Trollope
himself was quite familiar with methods of
borrowing, having gotten into debt in his youth.]
XIX. MR DALY VISITS THE DUNMORE INN
Daly let no grass grow under his feet, for early on the following
morning he hired a car, and proceeded to Dunmore, with the notices in
his pocket. His feelings were not very comfortable on his journey, for
he knew that he was going on a bad errand, and he was not naturally
either a heartless or an unscrupulous man, considering that he was a
provincial attorney; but he was young in business, and poor, and he
could not afford to give up a client. He endeavoured to persuade
himself that it certainly was a wrong thing for Martin Kelly to marry
such a woman as Anty Lynch, and that Barry had some show of justice on
his side; but he could not succeed. He knew that Martin was a frank,
honourable fellow, and that a marriage with him would be the very thing
most likely to make Anty happy; and he was certain, moreover, that,
however anxious Martin might naturally be to secure the fortune, he
would take no illegal or even unfair steps to do so. He felt that his
client was a ruffian of the deepest die: that his sole object was to
rob his sister, and that he had no case which it would be possible even
to bring before a jury. His intention now was, merely to work upon the
timidity and ignorance of Anty and the other females, and to frighten
them with a bugbear in the shape of a criminal indictment; and Daly
felt that the work he was about was very, very dirty work. Two or three
times on the road, he had all but made up his mind to tear the letters
he had in his pocket, and to drive at once to Dunmore House, and tell
Barry Lynch that he would do nothing further in the case. And he would
have done so, had he not reflected that he had gone so far with Moylan,
that he could not recede, without leaving it in the old rogue's power
to make the whole matter public.
As he drove down the street of Dunmore, he endeavoured to quiet his
conscience, by reflecting that he might still do much to guard Anty
from the ill effects of her brother's rapacity; and that at any rate he
would not see her property taken from her, though she might be
frightened out of her matrimonial speculation.
He wanted to see the widow, Martin, and Anty, and if possible to see
them, at first, separately; and fortune so far favoured him that, as he
got off the car, he saw our hero standing at the inn door.
"Ah! Mr Daly," said he, coming up to the car and shaking hands with the
attorney, for Daly put out his hand to him--"how are you again?--I
suppose you're going up to the house? They say you're Barry's right
hand man now. Were you coming into the inn?"
"Why, I will step in just this minute; but I've a word I want to spake
to you first."
"To me!" said Martin.
"Yes, to you, Martin Kelly: isn't that quare?" and then he gave
directions to the driver to put up the horse, and bring the car round
again in an hour's time. "D' you remember my telling you, the day we
came into Dunmore on the car together, that I was going up to the
house?"
"Faith I do, well; it's not so long since."
"And do you mind my telling you, I didn't know from Adam what it was
for, that Barry Lynch was sending for me?"
"And I remember that, too."
"And that I tould you, that when I did know I shouldn't tell you?"
"Begad you did, Mr Daly; thim very words."
"Why then, Martin, I tould you what wasn't thrue, for I'm come all the
way from Tuam, this minute, to tell you all about it."
Martin turned very red, for he rightly conceived that when an attorney
came all the way from Tuam to talk to him, the tidings were not likely
to be agreeable.
"And is it about Barry Lynch's business?"
"It is."
"Then it's schames there's divil a doubt of that."
"It is schames, as you say, Martin," said Daly, slapping him on the
shoulder--"fine schames--no less than a wife with four hundred a-year!
Wouldn't that be a fine schame?"
"'Deed it would, Mr Daly, av' the wife and the fortune were honestly
come by."
"And isn't it a hundred pities that I must come and upset such a pretty
schame as that? But, for all that, it's thrue. I'm sorry for you,
Martin, but you must give up Anty Lynch."
"Give her up, is it? Faith I haven't got her to give up, worse luck."
"Nor never will, Martin; and that's worse luck again."
"Well, Mr Daly, av' that's all you've come to say, you might have saved
yourself car-hire. Miss Lynch is nothing to me, mind; how should she
be? But av' she war, neither Barry Lynch--who's as big a rogue as there
is from this to hisself and back again--nor you, who, I take it, ain't
rogue enough to do Barry's work, wouldn't put me off it."
"Well, Martin; thank 'ee for the compliment. But now, you know what
I've come about, and there's no joke in it. Of course I don't want you
to tell me anything of your plans; but, as Mr Lynch's lawyer, I must
tell you so much as this of his:--that, if his sister doesn't lave
the inn, and honestly assure him that she'll give up her intention of
marrying you, he's determined to take proceedings." He then fumbled in
his pocket, and, bringing out the two notices, handed to Martin the one
addressed to him. "Read that, and it'll give you an idea what we're
afther. And when I tell you that Moylan owns, and will swear to it too,
that he was present when all the plans were made, you'll see that we're
not going to sea without wind in our sails."
"Well--I'm shot av' I know the laist in the world what all this is
about!" said Martin, as he stood in the street, reading over the
legally-worded letter--"'conspiracy!'--well that'll do, Mr Daly; go
on--'enticing away from her home!'--that's good, when the blackguard
nearly knocked the life out of her, and mother brought her
down here, from downright charity, and to prevent murdher--'wake
intellects!'--well, Mr Daly, I didn't expect this kind of thing from
you: begorra, I thought you were above this!--wake intellects! faith,
they're a dale too sthrong, and too good--and too wide awake too, for
Barry to get the betther of her that way. Not that I'm in the laist in
life surprised at anything he'd do; but I thought that you, Mr Daly,
wouldn't put your hands to such work as that."
Daly felt the rebuke, and felt it strongly, too; but now that he was
embarked in the business, he must put the best face he could upon it.
Still it was a moment or two before he could answer the young farmer.
"Why," he said--"why did you put your hands to such a dirty job as
this, Martin?--you were doing well, and not in want--and how could you
let anyone persuade you to go and sell yourself to, an ugly ould maid,
for a few hundred pounds? Don't you know, that if you were married to
her this minute, you'd have a lawsuit that'd go near to ruin you before
you could get possession of the property?"
"Av' I'm in want of legal advice, Mr Daly, which thank God, I'm not,
nor likely to be--but av' I war, it's not from Barry Lynch's attorney
I'd be looking for it."
"I'd be sorry to see you in want of it, Martin; but if you mane to keep
out of the worst kind of law, you'd better have done with Anty Lynch.
I'd a dale sooner be drawing up a marriage settlement between you and
some pretty girl with five or six hundred pound fortune, than I'd be
exposing to the counthry such a mane trick as this you're now afther,
of seducing a poor half-witted ould maid, like Anty Lynch, into a
disgraceful marriage."
"Look here, Mr Daly," said the other; "you've hired yourself out to
Barry Lynch, and you must do his work, I suppose, whether it's dirthy
or clane; and you know yourself, as well as I can tell you, which it's
likely to be--"
"That's my concern; lave that to me; you've quite enough to do to mind
yourself."
"But av' he's nothing betther for you to do, than to send you here
bally-ragging and calling folks out of their name, he must have a sight
more money to spare than I give him credit for; and you must be a dale
worse off than your neighbours thought you, to do it for him."
"That'll do," said Mr Daly, knocking at the door of the inn; "only,
remember, Mr Kelly, you've now received notice of the steps which my
client feels himself called upon to take."
Martin turned to go away, but then, reflecting that it would be as well
not to leave the women by themselves in the power of the enemy, he also
waited at the door till it was opened by Katty.
"Is Miss Lynch within?" asked Daly.
"Go round to the shop, Katty," said Martin, "and tell mother to come to
the door. There's a gentleman wanting her."
"It was Miss Lynch I asked for," said Daly, still looking to the girl
for an answer.
"Do as I bid you, you born ideot, and don't stand gaping there,"
shouted Martin to the girl, who immediately ran off towards the shop.
"I might as well warn you, Mr Kelly, that, if Miss Lynch is denied
to me, the fact of her being so denied will be a very sthrong proof
against you and your family. In fact, it amounts to an illegal
detention of her person, in the eye of the law." Daly said this in a
very low voice, almost a whisper.
"Faith, the law must have quare eyes, av' it makes anything wrong with
a young lady being asked the question whether or no she wishes to see
an attorney, at eleven in the morning."
"An attorney!" whispered Meg to Jane and Anty at the top of the stairs.
"Heaven and 'arth," said poor Anty, shaking and shivering--"what's
going to be the matter now?"
"It's young Daly," said Jane, stretching forward and peeping clown the
stairs: "I can see the curl of his whiskers."
By this time the news had reached Mrs Kelly, in the shop, "that a
sthrange gentleman war axing for Miss Anty, but that she warn't to be
shown to him on no account;" so the widow dropped her tobacco knife,
flung off her dirty apron, and, having summoned Jane and Meg to attend
to the mercantile affairs of the establishment--turned into the inn,
and met Mr Daly and her son still standing at the bottom of the stairs.
The widow curtsied ceremoniously, and wished Mr. Daly good morning, and
he was equally civil in his salutation.
"Mr Daly's going to have us all before the assizes, mother. We'll never
get off without the treadmill, any way: it's well av' the whole kit of
us don't have to go over the wather at the queen's expense."
"The Lord be good to us;" said the widow, crossing herself. What's the
matter, Mr Daly?"
"Your son's joking, ma'am. I was only asking to see Miss Lynch, on
business."
"Step upstairs, mother, into the big parlour, and don't let's be
standing talking here where all the world can hear us."
"And wilcome, for me, I'm shure"--said the widow, stroking down
the front of her dress with the palms of her hands, as she walked
upstairs--"and wilcome too for me I'm very shure. I've said or done
nothing as I wish to consail, Mr Daly. Will you be plazed to take a
chair?" and the widow sat down herself on a chair in the middle of the
room, with her hands folded over each other in her lap, as if she was
preparing to answer questions from that time to a very late hour in the
evening.
"And now, Mr Daly--av' you've anything to say to a poor widdy like me,
I'm ready."
"My chief object in calling, Mrs Kelly, was to see Miss Lynch. Would
you oblige me by letting Miss Lynch know that I'm waiting to see her on
business."
"Maybe it's a message from her brother, Mr Daly?" said Mrs Kelly.
"You had better go in to Miss Lynch, mother," said Martin, "and ask her
av' it's pleasing to her to see Mr Daly. She can see him, in course,
av' she likes."
"I don't see what good 'll come of her seeing him," rejoined the widow.
"With great respect to you, Mr Daly, and not maning to say a word agin
you, I don't see how Anty Lynch 'll be the betther for seeing ere an
attorney in the counthry."
"I don't want to frighten you, ma'am," said Daly; "but I can assure
you, you will put yourself in a very awkward position if you refuse to
allow me to see Miss Lynch."
"Ah, mother!" said Martin, "don't have a word to say in the matther
at all, one way or the other. Just tell Anty Mr Daly wishes to see
her--let her come or not, just as she chooses. What's she afeard of,
that she shouldn't hear what anyone has to say to her?"
The widow seemed to be in great doubt and perplexity, and continued
whispering with Martin for some time, during which Daly remained
standing with his back to the fire. At length Martin said, "Av' you've
got another of them notices to give my mother, Mr Daly, why don't you
do it?"
"Why, to tell you the thruth," answered the attorney, "I don't want to
throuble your mother unless it's absolutely necessary; and although I
have the notice ready in my pocket, if I could see Miss Lynch, I might
be spared the disagreeable job of serving it on her."
"The Holy Virgin save us!" said the widow; "an' what notice is it at
all, you're going to serve on a poor lone woman like me?"
"Be said by me, mother, and fetch Anty in here. Mr Daly won't expect, I
suppose, but what you should stay and hear what it is he has to say?"
"Both you and your mother are welcome to hear all that I have to say to
the lady," said Daly; for he felt that it would be impossible for him
to see Anty alone.
The widow unwillingly got up to fetch her guest. When she got to the
door, she turned round, and said, "And is there a notice, as you calls
it, to be sarved on Miss Lynch?"
"Not a line, Mrs Kelly; not a line, on my honour. I only want her to
hear a few words that I'm commissioned by her brother to say to her."
"And you're not going to give her any paper--nor nothing of that sort
at all?"
"Not a word, Mrs Kelly."
"Ah, mother," said Martin, "Mr Daly couldn't hurt her, av' he war
wishing, and he's not. Go and bring her in."
The widow went out, and in a few minutes returned, bringing Anty with
her, trembling from head to foot. The poor young woman had not exactly
heard what had passed between the attorney and the mother and her son,
but she knew very well that his visit had reference to her, and that it
was in some way connected with her brother. She had, therefore, been in
a great state of alarm since Meg and Jane had left her alone. When Mrs
Kelly came into the little room where she was sitting, and told her
that Mr Daly had come to Dunmore on purpose to see her, her first
impulse was to declare that she wouldn't go to him; and had she done
so, the widow would not have pressed her. But she hesitated, for she
didn't like to refuse to do anything which her friend asked her; and
when Mrs Kelly said, "Martin says as how the man can't hurt you, Anty,
so you'd betther jist hear what it is he has to say," she felt that she
had no loophole of escape, and got up to comply.
"But mind, Anty," whispered the cautious widow, as her hand was on the
parlour door, "becase this Daly is wanting to speak to you, that's no
rason you should be wanting to spake to him; so, if you'll be said by
me, you'll jist hould your tongue, and let him say on."
Fully determined to comply with this prudent advice, Anty followed the
old woman, and, curtseying at Daly without looking at him, sat herself
down in the middle of the old sofa, with her hands crossed before her.
"Anty," said Martin, making great haste to speak, before Daly could
commence, and then checking himself as he remembered that he shouldn't
have ventured on the familiarity of calling her by her Christian name
in Daly's presence--"Miss Lynch, I mane--as Mr Daly here has come all
the way from Tuam on purpose to spake to you, it wouldn't perhaps be
manners in you to let him go back without hearing him. But remember,
whatever your brother says, or whatever Mr Daly says for him--and it's
all--one you're still your own mistress, free to act and to spake, to
come and to go; and that neither the one nor the other can hurt you, or
mother, or me, nor anybody belonging to us."
"God knows," said Daly, "I want to have no hand in hurting any of you;
but, to tell the truth, Martin, it would be well for Miss Lynch to have
a better adviser than you or she may get herself, and, what she'll
think more of, she'll get her friends--maning you, Mrs Kelly, and your
family--into a heap of throubles."
"Oh, God forbid, thin!" exclaimed Anty.
"Niver mind us, Mr Daly," said the widow. "The Kellys was always able
to hould their own; thanks be to glory."
"Well, I've said my say, Mr Daly," said Martin, "and now do you say
your'n: as for throubles, we've all enough of thim; but your own must
have been bad, when you undhertook this sort of job for Barry Lynch."
"Mind yourself, Martin, as I told you before, and you'll about have
enough to do.--Miss Lynch, I've been instructed by your brother to draw
up an indictment against Mrs Kelly and Mr Kelly, charging them with
conspiracy to get possession of your fortune."
"A what!" shouted the widow, jumping up from her chair--"to rob Anty
Lynch of her fortune! I'd have you to know, Mr Daly, I wouldn't demane
myself to rob the best gentleman in Connaught, let alone a poor
unprotected young woman, whom I've--"
"Whist, mother--go asy," said Martin. "I tould you that that was what
war in the paper he gave me; he'll give you another, telling you all
about it just this minute."
"Well, the born ruffian! Does he dare to accuse me of wishing to rob
his sister! Now, Mr Daly, av' the blessed thruth is in you this minute,
don't your own heart know who it is, is most likely to rob Anty
Lynch?--Isn't it Barry Lynch himself is thrying to rob his own sisther
this minute? ay, and he'd murdher her too, only the heart within him
isn't sthrong enough."
"Ah, mother! don't be saying such things," said Martin; "what business
is that of our'n? Let Barry send what messages he plazes; I tell you
it's all moonshine; he can't hurt the hair of your head, nor Anty's
neither. Go asy, and let Mr Daly say what he has to say, and have done
with it."
"It's asy to say 'go asy'--but who's to sit still and be tould sich
things as that? Rob Anty Lynch indeed!"
"If you'll let me finish what I have to say, Mrs Kelly, I think you'll
find it betther for the whole of us," said Daly.
"Go on thin, and be quick with it; but don't talk to dacent people
about robbers any more. Robbers indeed! they're not far to fitch; and
black robbers too, glory be to God."
"Your brother, Miss Lynch, is determined to bring this matter before a
jury at the assizes, for the sake of protecting you and your property."
"Protecthing Anty Lynch!--is it Barry? The Holy Virgin defind her from
sich prothection! a broken head the first moment the dhrink makes his
heart sthrong enough to sthrike her!"
"Ah, mother! you're a fool," exclaimed Martin: "why can't you let the
man go on?--ain't he paid for saying it? Well, Mr Daly, begorra I pity
you, to have such things on your tongue; but go on, go on, and finish
it."
"Your brother conceives this to be his duty," continued Daly, rather
bothered by the manner in which he had to make his communication, "and
it is a duty which he is determined to go through with."
"Duty!" said the widow, with a twist of her nose, and giving almost a
whistle through her lips, in a manner which very plainly declared the
contempt she felt for Barry's ideas of duty.
"With this object," continued Daly, "I have already handed to Martin
Kelly a notice of what your brother means to do; and I have another
notice prepared in my pocket for his mother. The next step will be to
swear the informations before a magistrate, and get the committals made
out; Mrs Kelly and her son will then have to give bail for their
appearance at the assizes."
"And so we can," said the widow; "betther bail than e'er a Lynch or
Daly--not but what the Dalys is respictable--betther bail, any way,
than e'er a Lynch in Galway could show, either for sessions or 'sizes,
by night or by day, winter or summer."
"Ah, mother! you don't understhand: he's maning that we're to be tried
in the dock, for staling Anty's money."
"Faix, but that'd be a good joke! Isn't Anty to the fore herself to say
who's robbed her? Take an ould woman's advice, Mr Daly, and go back to
Tuam: it ain't so asy to put salt on the tail of a Dunmore bird."
"And so I will, Mrs Kelly," said Daly; "but you must let me finish what
I have to tell Miss Lynch.--This will be a proceeding most disagreeable
to your brother's feelings."
"Failings, indeed!" muttered the widow; "faix, I b'lieve his chief
failing at present's for sthrong dhrink!"
"--But he must go on with it, unless you at once lave the inn, return
to your own home, and give him your promise that you will never marry
Martin Kelly."
Anty blushed deep crimson over her whole face at the mention of her
contemplated marriage; and, to tell the truth, so did Martin.
"Here is the notice," said Daly, taking the paper out of his pocket;
"and the matter now rests with yourself. If you'll only tell me that
you'll be guided by your brother on this subject, I'll burn the notice
at once; and I'll undertake to say that, as far as your property is
concerned, your brother will not in the least interfere with you in the
management of it."
"And good rason why, Mr Daly," said the widow--"jist becase he can't."
"Well, Miss Lynch, am I to tell your brother that you are willing to
oblige him in this matter?"
Whatever effect Daly's threats may have had on the widow and her son,
they told strongly upon Anty; for she sat now the picture of misery and
indecision. At last she said: "Oh, Lord defend me! what am I to do, Mrs
Kelly?"
"Do?" said Martin; "why, what should you do--but just wish Mr Daly good
morning, and stay where you are, snug and comfortable?"
"Av' you war to lave this, Anty, and go up to Dunmore House afther all
that's been said and done, I'd say Barry was right, and that
Ballinasloe Asylum was the fitting place for you," said the widow.
"The blessed virgin guide and prothect me," said Anty, "for I want her
guidance this minute. Oh, that the walls of a convent was round me this
minute--I wouldn't know what throuble was!"
"And you needn't know anything about throuble," said Martin, who didn't
quite like his mistress's allusion to a convent. "You don't suppose
there's a word of thruth in all this long story of Mr Daly's?--He
knows,--and I'll say it out to his face--he knows Barry don't dare
carry on with sich a schame. He knows he's only come here to frighten
you out of this, that Barry may have his will on you again."
"And God forgive him his errand here this day," said the widow, "for it
was a very bad one."
"If you will allow me to offer you my advice, Miss Lynch," said Daly,
"you will put yourself, at any rate for a time, under your brother's
protection."
"She won't do no sich thing," said the widow. "What! to be locked into
the parlour agin--and be nigh murdhered? holy father!"
"Oh, no," said Anty, at last, shuddering in horror at the remembrance
of the last night she passed in Dunmore House, "I cannot go back to
live with him, but I'll do anything else, av' he'll only lave me, and
my kind, kind friends, in pace and quiet."
"Indeed, and you won't, Anty," said the widow; "you'll do nothing for
him. Your frinds--that's av' you mane the Kellys--is very able to take
care of themselves."
"If your brother, Miss Lynch, will lave Dunmore House altogether, and
let you have it to yourself, will you go and live there, and give him
the promise not to marry Martin Kelly?"
"Indeed an' she won't," said the widow. "She'll give no promise of the
kind. Promise, indeed! what for should she promise Barry Lynch whom she
will marry, or whom she won't?"
"Raily, Mrs Kelly, I think you might let Miss Lynch answer for
herself."
"I wouldn't, for all the world thin, go to live at Dunmore House," said
Anty.
"And you are determined to stay in this inn here?"
"In course she is--that's till she's a snug house of her own," said the
widow.
"Ah, mother!" said Martin, "what for will you be talking?"
"And you're determined," repeated Daly, "to stay here?"
"I am," faltered Anty.
"Then I have nothing further to do than to hand you this, Mrs
Kelly"--and he offered the notice to the widow, but she refused to
touch it, and he consequently put it down on the table. "But it is my
duty to tell you, Miss Lynch, that the gentry of this counthry, before
whom you will have to appear, will express very great indignation at
your conduct in persevering in placing poor people like the Kellys in
so dreadful a predicament, by your wilful and disgraceful obstinacy."
Poor Anty burst into tears. She had been for some time past trying to
restrain herself, but Daly's last speech, and the horrible idea of the
gentry of the country browbeating and frowning at her, completely upset
her, and she hid her face on the arm of the sofa, and sobbed aloud.
"Poor people like the Kellys!" shouted the widow, now for the first
time really angry with Daly--"not so poor, Mr Daly, as to do dirthy
work for anyone. I wish I could say as much this day for your mother's
son! Poor people, indeed! I suppose, now, you wouldn't call Barry Lynch
one of your poor people; but in my mind he's the poorest crature living
this day in county Galway. Av' you've done now, Mr Daly, you've my lave
to be walking; and the less you let the poor Kellys see of you, from
this time out, the betther."
When Anty's sobs commenced, Martin had gone over to her to comfort her,
"Ah, Anty, dear," he whispered to her, "shure you'd not be minding what
such a fellow as he'd be saying to you?--shure he's jist paid for all
this--he's only sent here by Barry to thry and frighten you,"--but
it was of no avail: Daly had succeeded at any rate in making her
miserable, and it was past the power of Martin's eloquence to undo what
the attorney had done.
"Well, Mr Daly," he said, turning round sharply, "I suppose you have
done here now, and the sooner you turn your back on this place the
betther--An' you may take this along with you. Av' you think you've
frightened my mother or me, you're very much mistaken."
"Yes," said Daly, "I have done now, and I am sorry my business has been
so unpleasant. Your mother, Martin, had betther not disregard that
notice. Good morning, Miss Lynch: good morning, Mrs Kelly; good
morning, Martin;" and Daly took up his hat, and left the room.
"Good morning to you, Mr Daly," said Martin: "as I've said before, I'm
sorry to see you've taken to this line of business."
As soon as the attorney was gone, both Martin and his mother attempted
to console and re-assure poor Anty, but they did not find the task an
easy one. "Oh, Mrs Kelly," she said, as soon as she was able to say
anything, "I'm sorry I iver come here, I am: I'm sorry I iver set my
foot in the house!"
"Don't say so, Anty, dear," said the widow. "What'd you be sorry
for--an't it the best place for you?"
"Oh! but to think that I'd bring all these throubles on you! Betther
be up there, and bear it all, than bring you and yours into law, and
sorrow, and expense. Only I couldn't find the words in my throat to
say it, I'd 've tould the man that I'd 've gone back at once. I wish
I had--indeed, Mrs Kelly, I wish I had."
"Why, Anty," said Martin, "you an't fool enough to believe what Daly's
been saying? Shure all he's afther is to frighthen you out of this.
Never fear: Barry can't hurt us a halfporth, though no doubt he's
willing enough, av' he had the way."
"I wish I was in a convent, this moment," said Anty. "Oh! I wish I'd
done as father asked me long since. Av' the walls of a convent was
around me, I'd niver know what throubles was."
"No more you shan't now," said Martin: "Who's to hurt you? Come, Anty,
look up; there's nothing in all this to vex you."
But neither son nor mother were able to soothe the poor young woman.
The very presence of an attorney was awful to her; and all the jargon
which Daly had used, of juries, judges, trials, and notices, had
sounded terribly in her ears. The very names of such things were to
her terrible realities, and she couldn't bring herself to believe that
her brother would threaten to make use of such horrible engines of
persecution, without having the power to bring them into action. Then,
visions of the lunatic asylum, into which he had declared that he would
throw her, flitted across her, and made her whole body shiver and
shake; and again she remembered the horrid glare of his eye, the hot
breath, and the frightful form of his visage, on the night when he
almost told her that he would murder her.
Poor Anty had at no time high or enduring spirits, but such as she
had were now completely quelled. A dreadful feeling of coming evil--a
foreboding of misery, such as will sometimes overwhelm stronger minds
than Anty's, seemed to stifle her; and she continued sobbing till she
fell into hysterics, when Meg and Jane were summoned to her assistance.
They sat with her for above an hour, doing all that kindness and
affection could suggest; but after a time Anty told them that she had a
cold, sick feeling within herself, that she felt weak and ill, and that
she'd sooner go to bed. To bed they accordingly took her; and Sally
brought her tea, and Katty lighted a fire in her room, and Jane read to
her an edifying article from the lives of the Saints, and Meg argued
with her as to the folly of being frightened. But it was all of no
avail; before night, Anty was really ill.
The next morning, the widow was obliged to own to herself that such was
the case. In the afternoon, Doctor Colligan was called in; and it was
many, many weeks before Anty recovered from the effects of the
attorney's visit.
XX. VERY LIBERAL
When the widow left the parlour, after having placed her guest in
the charge of her daughters, she summoned her son to follow her down
stairs, and was very careful not to leave behind her the notice which
Daly had placed on the table. As soon as she found herself behind
the shutter of her little desk, which stood in the shop-window, she
commenced very eagerly spelling it over. The purport of the notice was,
to inform her that Barry Lynch intended immediately to apply to the
magistrates to commit her and her son, for conspiring together to
inveigle Anty into a marriage; and that the fact of their having done
so would be proved by Mr Moylan, who was prepared to swear that he
had been present when the plan had been arranged between them. The
reader is aware that whatever show of truth there might be for this
accusation, as far as Martin and Moylan himself were concerned, the
widow at any rate was innocent; and he can conceive the good lady's
indignation at the idea of her own connection, Moylan, having been
seduced over to the enemy. Though she had put on a bold front against
Daly, and though she did not quite believe that Barry was in earnest in
taking proceedings against her, still her heart failed her as she read
the legal technicalities of the papers she held in her hand, and turned
to her son for counsel in considerable tribulation.
"But there must be something in it, I tell you," said she. "Though
Barry Lynch, and that limb o' the divil, young Daly, 'd stick at nothin
in the way of lies and desait, they'd niver go to say all this about
Moylan, unless he'd agree to do their bidding."
"That's like enough, mother: I dare say Moylan has been talked
over--bought over rather; for he's not one of them as'd do mischief for
nothin."
"And does the ould robber mane to say that I--. As I live, I niver as
much as mentioned Anty's name to Moylan, except jist about the agency!"
"I'm shure you didn't, mother."
"And what is it then he has to say agin us?"
"Jist lies; that's av' he were called on to say anything; but he niver
will be. This is all one of Barry's schames to frighten you, and get
Anty turned out of the inn."
"Thin Master Barry doesn't know the widdy Kelly, I can tell him that;
for when I puts my hand to a thing, I mane to pull through wid it. But
tell me--all this'll be costing money, won't, it? Attorneys don't bring
thim sort of things about for nothing," and she gave a most
contemptuous twist to the notice.
"Oh, Barry must pay for that."
"I doubt that, Martin: he's not fond of paying, the mane, dirthy
blackguard. I tell you what, you shouldn't iver have let Daly inside
the house: he'll make us pay for the writing o' thim as shure as my
name's Mary Kelly: av' he hadn't got into the house, he couldn't've
done a halfporth."
"I tell you, mother, it wouldn't have done not to let him see Anty.
They'd have said we'd got her shut up here, and wouldn't let any one
come nigh her."
"Well, Martin, you'll see we'll have to pay for it. This comes of
meddling with other folks! I wonder how I was iver fool enough to have
fitched her down here!--Good couldn't come of daling with such people
as Barry Lynch."
"But you wouldn't have left her up there to be murdhered?"
"She's nothin' to me, and I don't know as she's iver like to be."
"May-be not."
"But, tell me, Martin--was there anything said between you and Moylan
about Anty before she come down here?"
"How, anything said, mother?"
"Why, was there any schaming betwixt you?"
"Schaming?--when I want to schame, I'll not go shares with sich a
fellow as Moylan."
"Ah, but was there anything passed about Anty and you getting married?
Come now, Martin; I'm in all this throuble along of you, and you
shouldn't lave me in the dark. Was you talking to Moylan about Anty and
her fortune?"
"Why, thin, I'll jist tell you the whole thruth, as I tould it all
before to Mister Frank--that is, Lord Ballindine, up in Dublin; and as
I wouldn't mind telling it this minute to Barry, or Daly, or any one
else in the three counties. When Moylan got the agency, he come out to
me at Toneroe; and afther talking a bit about Anty and her fortune, he
let on as how it would be a bright spec for me to marry her, and I
won't deny that it was he as first put it into my head. Well, thin, he
had schames of his own about keeping the agency, and getting a nice
thing out of the property himself, for putting Anty in my way; but I
tould him downright I didn't know anything about that; and that 'av
iver I did anything in the matter it would be all fair and above board;
and that was all the conspiracy I and Moylan had."
"And enough too, Martin," said the widow. "You'll find it's quite
enough to get us into throuble. And why wouldn't you tell me what was
going on between you?"
"There was nothing going on between us."
"I say there was;--and to go and invaigle me into your schames without
knowing a word about it!--It was a murdhering shame of you--and av' I
do have to pay for it, I'll never forgive you."
"That's right, mother; quarrel with me about it, do. It was I made you
bring Anty down here, wasn't it? when I was up in Dublin all the time."
"But to go and put yourself in the power of sich a fellow as Moylan! I
didn't think you were so soft."
"Ah, bother, mother! Who's put themselves in the power of Moylan?"
"I'll moyle him, and spoil him too, the false blackguard, to turn
agin the family--them as has made him! I wondher what he's to get
for swearing agin us?"--And then, after a pause, she added in a most
pathetic voice "oh, Martin, to think of being dragged away to Galway,
before the whole counthry, to be made a conspirather of! I, that always
paid my way, before and behind, though only a poor widdy! Who's to mind
the shop, I wondher?--I'm shure Meg's not able; and there'll be Mary'll
be jist nigh her time, and won't be able to come! Martin, you've been
and ruined me with your plots and your marriages! What did you want
with a wife, I wondher, and you so well off!"--and Mrs Kelly began
wiping her eyes, for she was affected to tears at the prospect of her
coming misery.
"Av' you take it so to heart, mother, you'd betther give Anty a hint to
be out of this. You heard Daly tell her, that was all Barry wanted."
Martin knew his mother tolerably well, or he would not have made this
proposition. He understood what the real extent of her sorrow was, and
how much of her lamentation he was to attribute to her laudable wish to
appear a martyr to the wishes and pleasures of her children.
"Turn her out!" replied she, "no, niver; and I didn't think I'd 've
heard you asking me to."
"I didn't ask you, mother,--only anything'd be betther than downright
ruin."
"I wouldn't demane myself to Barry so much as to wish her out of this
now she's here. But it was along of you she came here, and av' I've to
pay for all this lawyer work, you oughtn't to see me at a loss. I'm
shure I don't know where your sisthers is to look for a pound or two
when I'm gone, av' things goes on this way," and again the widow
whimpered.
"Don't let that throuble you, mother: av' there's anything to pay, I
won't let it come upon you, any way. But I tell you there'll be nothing
more about it."
Mrs Kelly was somewhat quieted by her son's guarantee, and, muttering
that she couldn't afford to be wasting her mornings in that way,
diligently commenced weighing out innumerable three-halfporths of brown
sugar, and Martin went about his own business.
Daly left the inn, after his interview with Anty and the Kellys, in
anything but a pleasant frame of mind. In the first place, he knew that
he had been signally unsuccessful, and that his want of success had
been mainly attributable to his having failed to see Anty alone; and,
in the next place, he felt more than ever disgusted with his client.
He began to reflect, for the first time, that he might, and probably
would, irretrievably injure his character by undertaking, as Martin
truly called it, such a very low line of business: that, if the matter
were persevered in, every one in Connaught would be sure to hear of
Anty's persecution; and that his own name would be so mixed up with
Lynch's in the transaction as to leave him no means of escaping the
ignominy which was so justly due to his employer. Beyond these selfish
motives of wishing to withdraw from the business, he really pitied
Anty, and felt a great repugnance at being the means of adding to her
troubles; and he was aware of the scandalous shame of subjecting her
again to the ill-treatment of such a wretch as her brother, by
threatening proceedings which he knew could never be taken.
As he got on the car to return to Tuam, he determined that whatever
plan he might settle on adopting, he would have nothing further to do
with prosecuting or persecuting either Anty or the Kellys. "I'll give
him the best advice I can about it," said Daly to himself; "and if
he don't like it he may do the other thing. I wouldn't carry on with
this game for all he's worth, and that I believe is not much." He had
intended to go direct to Dunmore House from the Kellys, and to have
seen Barry, but he would have had to stop for dinner if he had done
so; and though, generally speaking, not very squeamish in his society,
he did not wish to enjoy another after-dinner _tête-à-tête_ with
him--"It's better to get him over to Tuam," thought he, "and try and
make him see rason when he's sober: nothing's too hot or too bad for
him, when he's mad dhrunk afther dinner."
Accordingly, Lynch was again summoned to Tuam, and held a second
council in the attorney's little parlour. Daly commenced by telling him
that his sister had seen him, and had positively refused to leave the
inn, and that the widow and her son had both listened to the threats
of a prosecution unmoved and undismayed. Barry indulged in his
usual volubility of expletives; expressed his fixed intention of
exterminating the Kellys; declared, with many asseverations, his
conviction that his sister was a lunatic; swore, by everything under,
in, and above the earth, that he would have her shut up in the Lunatic
Asylum in Ballinasloe, in the teeth of the Lord Chancellor and all the
other lawyers in Ireland; cursed the shades of his father, deeply and
copiously; assured Daly that he was only prevented from recovering his
own property by the weakness and ignorance of his legal advisers, and
ended by asking the attorney's advice as to his future conduct.
"What the d----l, then, am I to do with the confounded ideot?" said he.
"If you'll take my advice, you'll do nothing."
"What, and let her marry and have that young blackguard brought up to
Dunmore under my very nose?"
"I'm very much afraid, Mr Lynch, if you wish to be quit of Martin
Kelly, it is you must lave Dunmore. You may be shure he won't."
"Oh, as for that, I've nothing to tie me to Dunmore. I hate the place;
I never meant to live there. If I only saw my sister properly taken
care of, and that it was put out of her power to throw herself away, I
should leave it at once."
"Between you and me, Mr Lynch, she will be taken care of; and as for
throwing herself away, she must judge of that herself. Take my word for
it, the best thing for you to do is to come to terms with Martin Kelly,
and to sell out your property in Dunmore. You'll make much better terms
before marriage than you would afther, it stands to rason."
Barry was half standing, and half sitting on the small parlour table,
and there he remained for a few minutes, meditating on Daly's most
unpleasant proposal. It was a hard pill for him to swallow, and he
couldn't get it down without some convulsive grimaces. He bit his under
lip, till the blood came through it, and at last said,
"Why, you've taken this thing up, Daly, as if you were to be paid by
the Kellys instead of by me! I can't understand it, confound me if I
can!"
Daly turned very red at the insinuation. He was within an ace of
seizing Lynch by the collar, and expelling him in a summary way from
his premises, a feat which he was able to perform; and willing also,
for he was sick of his client; but he thought of it a second time, and
restrained himself.
"Mr Lynch," he said, after a moment or two, "that's the second time
you've made an observation of that kind to me; and I'll tell you what;
if your business was the best in the county, instead of being as bad a
case as was ever put into a lawyer's hands, I wouldn't stand it from
you. If you think you can let out your passion against me, as you do
against your own people, you'll find your mistake out very soon; so
you'd betther mind what you're saying."
"Why, what the devil did I say?" said Lynch, half abashed.
"I'll not repeat it--and you hadn't betther, either. And now, do you
choose to hear my professional advice, and behave to me as you ought
and shall do? or will you go out of this and look out for another
attorney? To tell you the truth, I'd jist as lieve you'd take your
business to some one else."
Barry's brow grew very black, and he looked at Daly as though he would
much like to insult him again if he dared. But he did not dare. He had
no one else to look to for advice or support; he had utterly estranged
from him his father's lawyer; and though he suspected that Daly was not
true to him, he felt that he could not break with him. He was obliged,
therefore, to swallow his wrath, though it choked him, and to mutter
something in the shape of an apology.
It was a mutter: Daly heard something about its being only a joke,
and not expecting to be taken up so d---- sharp; and, accepting these
sounds as an _amende honorable_ [32], again renewed his functions as
attorney.
[FOOTNOTE 32: amende honorable--(French) apology]
"Will you authorise me to see Martin Kelly, and to treat with him?
You'll find it the cheapest thing you can do; and, more than that,
it'll be what nobody can blame you for."
"How treat with him?--I owe him nothing--I don't see what I've got to
treat with him about. Am I to offer him half the property on condition
he'll consent to marry my sister? Is that what you mean?"
"No: that's not what I mean; but it'll come to much the same thing in
the end. In the first place, you must withdraw all opposition to Miss
Lynch's marriage; indeed, you must give it your direct sanction; and,
in the next place, you must make an amicable arrangement with Martin
about the division of the property."
"What--coolly give him all he has the impudence to ask?--throw up the
game altogether, and pitch the whole stakes into his lap?--Why, Daly,
you--"
"Well, Mr Lynch, finish your speech," said Daly, looking him full in
the face.
Barry had been on the point of again accusing the attorney of playing
false to him, but he paused in time; he caught Daly's eye, and did not
dare to finish the sentence which he had begun.
"I can't understand you, I mean," said he; "I can't understand what
you're after: but go on; may-be you're right, but I can't see, for the
life of me. What am I to get by such a plan as that?"
Barry was now cowed and frightened; he had no dram-bottle by him to
reassure him, and he became, comparatively speaking, calm and subdued.
Indeed, before the interview was over he fell into a pitiably
lachrymose tone, and claimed sympathy for the many hardships he had to
undergo through the ill-treatment of his family.
"I'll try and explain to you, Mr Lynch, what you'll get by it. As
far as I can understand, your father left about eight hundred a-year
between the two--that's you and your sisther; and then there's the
house and furniture. Nothing on earth can keep her out of her property,
or prevent her from marrying whom she plases. Martin Kelly, who is
an honest fellow, though sharp enough, has set his eye on her, and
before many weeks you'll find he'll make her his wife. Undher these
circumstances, wouldn't he be the best tenant you could find for
Dunmore? You're not fond of the place, and will be still less so when
he's your brother-in-law. Lave it altogether, Mr Lynch; give him a
laise of the whole concern, and if you'll do that now at once, take
my word for it you'll get more out of Dunmore than iver you will by
staying here, and fighting the matther out."
"But about the debts, Daly?"
"Why, I suppose the fact is, the debts are all your own, eh?"
"Well--suppose they are?"
"Exactly so: personal debts of your own. Why, when you've made some
final arrangement about the property, you must make some other
arrangement with your creditors. But that's quite a separate affair;
you don't expect Martin Kelly to pay your debts, I suppose?"
"But I might get a sum of money for the good-will, mightn't I?"
"I don't think Martin's able to put a large sum down. I'll tell you
what I think you might ask; and what I think he would give, to get
your good-will and consent to the match, and to prevent any further
difficulty. I think he'd become your tenant, for the whole of your
share, at a rent of five-hundred a year; and maybe he'd give you three
hundred pounds for the furniture and stock, and things about the place.
If so, you should give him a laise of three lives."
There was a good deal in this proposition that was pleasing to Barry's
mind: five hundred a-year without any trouble in collecting it; the
power of living abroad in the unrestrained indulgence of hotels and
billiard rooms; the probable chance of being able to retain his income
and bilk his creditors; the prospect of shaking off from himself the
consequences of a connection with the Kellys, and being for ever rid of
Dunmore encumbrances. These things all opened before his eyes a vista
of future, idle, uncontrolled enjoyment, just suited to his taste, and
strongly tempted him at once to close with Daly's offer. But still,
he could hardly bring himself to consent to be vanquished by his own
sister; it was wormwood to him to think that after all she should be
left to the undisturbed enjoyment of her father's legacy. He had been
brow-beaten by the widow, insulted by young Kelly, cowed and silenced
by the attorney whom he had intended to patronise and convert into a
creature of his own: he could however have borne and put up with all
this, if he could only have got his will of his sister; but to give up
to her, who had been his slave all his life--to own, at last, that he
had no power over her, whom he had always looked upon as so abject, so
mean a thing; to give in, of his own accord, to the robbery which had
been committed on him by his own father; and to do this, while he felt
convinced as he still did, that a sufficiently unscrupulous attorney
could save him from such cruel disgrace and loss, was a trial to which
he could hardly bring himself to submit, crushed and tamed as he was.
He still sat on the edge of the parlour table, and there he remained
mute, balancing the pros and cons of Daly's plan. Daly waited a minute
or two for his answer, and, finding that he said nothing, left him
alone for a time, to make up his mind, telling him that he would return
in about a quarter of an hour. Barry never moved from his position; it
was an important question he had to settle, and so he felt it, for he
gave up to the subject his undivided attention. Since his boyhood he
had looked forward to a life of ease, pleasure, and licence, and had
longed for his father's death that he might enjoy it. It seemed now
within his reach; for his means, though reduced, would still be
sufficient for sensual gratification. But, idle, unprincipled, brutal,
castaway wretch as Barry was, he still felt the degradation of
inaction, when he had such stimulating motives to energy as unsatisfied
rapacity and hatred for his sister: ignorant as he was of the meaning
of the word right, he tried to persuade himself that it would be wrong
in him to yield.
Could he only pluck up sufficient courage to speak his mind to Daly,
and frighten him into compliance with his wishes, he still felt that he
might be successful--that he might, by some legal tactics, at any rate
obtain for himself the management of his sister's property. But this
he could not do: he felt that Daly was his master; and though he still
thought that he might have triumphed had he come sufficiently prepared,
that is, with a considerable quantum of spirits inside him, he knew
himself well enough to be aware that he could do nothing without this
assistance; and, alas, he could not obtain it there. He had great
reliance in the efficacy of whiskey; he would trust much to a large
dose of port wine; but with brandy he considered himself invincible.
He sat biting his lip, trying to think, trying to make up his mind,
trying to gain sufficient self-composure to finish his interview with
Daly with some appearance of resolution and self-confidence, but it was
in vain; when the attorney returned, his face still plainly showed that
he was utterly unresolved, utterly unable to resolve on anything.
"Well, Mr Lynch," said Daly, "will you let me spake to Kelly about
this, or would you rather sleep on the matther?"
Barry gave a long sigh--"Wouldn't he give six hundred, Daly? he'd still
have two hundred clear, and think what that'd be for a fellow like
him!"
"You must ask him for it yourself then; I'll not propose to him any
such thing. Upon my soul, he'll be a great fool to give the five
hundred, because he's no occasion to meddle with you in the matther at
all, at all. But still I think he may give it; but as for asking for
more--at any rate I won't do it; you can do what you like, yourself."
"And am I to sell the furniture, and everything--horses, cattle, and
everything about the place--for three hundred pounds?"
"Not unless you like it, you ain't, Mr Lynch; but I'll tell you
this--if you can do so, and do do so, it'll be the best bargain you
ever made:--mind, one-half of it all belongs to your sisther."
Barry muttered an oath through his ground teeth; he would have liked to
scratch the ashes of his father from their resting-place, and wreak his
vengeance on them, whenever this degrading fact was named to him.
"But I want the money, Daly," said he: "I couldn't get afloat unless I
had more than that: I couldn't pay your bill, you know, unless I got a
higher figure down than that. Come, Daly, you must do something for me;
you must do something, you know, to earn the fees," and he tried to
look facetious, by giving a wretched ghastly grin.
"My bill won't be a long one, Mr Lynch, and you may be shure I'm trying
to make it as short as I can. And as for earning it, whatever you may
think, I can assure you I shall never have got money harder. I've now
given you my best advice; if your mind's not yet made up, perhaps
you'll have the goodness to let me hear from you when it is?" and Daly
walked from the fire towards the door, and placed his hand upon the
handle of it.
This was a hint which Barry couldn't misunderstand. "Well, I'll write
to you," he said, and passed through the door. He felt, however, that
it was useless to attempt to trust himself to his own judgment, and he
turned back, as Daly passed into his office--"Daly," he said, "step out
one minute: I won't keep you a second." The attorney unwillingly lifted
up the counter, and came out to him. "Manage it your own way," said
he; "do whatever you think best; but you must see that I've been badly
used--infernally cruelly treated, and you ought to do the best you can
for me. Here am I, giving away, as I may say, my own property to a
young shopkeeper, and upon my soul you ought to make him pay something
for it; upon my soul you ought, for it's only fair!"
"I've tould you, Mr Lynch, what I'll propose to Martin Kelly; if you
don't think the terms fair, you can propose any others yourself; or
you're at liberty to employ any other agent you please."
Barry sighed again, but he yielded. He felt broken-hearted, and
unhappy, and he longed to quit a country so distasteful to him, and
relatives and neighbours so ungrateful; he longed in his heart for the
sweet, easy haunts of Boulogne, which he had never known, but of which
he had heard many a glowing description from congenial spirits whom he
knew. He had heard enough of the ways and means of many a leading
star in that Elysium, to be aware that, with five hundred a-year,
unembarrassed and punctually paid, he might shine as a prince indeed.
He would go at once to that happy foreign shore, where the memory of no
father would follow him, where the presence of no sister would degrade
and irritate him, where billiard-tables were rife, and brandy cheap;
where virtue was easy, and restraint unnecessary; where no duties would
harass him, no tenants upbraid him, no duns persecute him. There,
carefully guarding himself against the schemes of those less fortunate
followers of pleasure among whom he would be thrown in his social
hours, he would convert every shilling of his income to some purpose of
self-enjoyment, and live a life of luxurious abandonment. And he need
not be altogether idle, he reflected within himself afterwards, as he
was riding home: he felt that he was possessed of sufficient energy and
talent to make himself perfectly master of a pack of cards, to be a
proficient over a billiard-table, and even to get the upper hand of a
box of dice. With such pursuits left to him, he might yet live to be
talked of, feared, and wealthy; and Barry's utmost ambition would have
carried him no further.
As I said before, he yielded to the attorney, and commissioned him
fully to treat with Martin Kelly in the manner proposed by himself.
Martin was to give him five hundred a-year for his share of the
property, and three hundred pounds for the furniture, &c.; and Barry
was to give his sister his written and unconditional assent to her
marriage; was to sign any document which might be necessary as to her
settlement, and was then to leave Dunmore for ever. Daly made him write
an authority for making such a proposal, by which he bound himself to
the terms, should they be acceded to by the other party.
"But you must bear in mind," added Daly, as his client for the second
time turned from the door, "that I don't guarantee that Martin Kelly
will accept these terms: it's very likely he may be sharp enough to
know that he can manage as well without you as he can with you. You'll
remember that, Mr Lynch."
"I will--I will, Daly; but look here--if he bites freely--and I think
he will, and if you find you could get as much as a thousand out of
him, or even eight hundred, you shall have one hundred clear for
yourself."
This was Barry's last piece of diplomacy for that day. Daly vouchsafed
him no answer, but returned into his office, and Barry mounted his
horse, and returned home not altogether ill-pleased with his prospects,
but still regretting that he should have gone about so serious a piece
of business, so utterly unprepared.
These regrets rose stronger, when his after-dinner courage returned to
him as he sate solitary over his fire. "I should have had him here,"
said he to himself, "and not gone to that confounded cold hole of
his. After all, there's no place for a cock to fight on like his own
dunghill; and there's nothing able to carry a fellow well through a
tough bit of jobation [33] with a lawyer like a stiff tumbler of brandy
punch. It'd have been worth a couple of hundred to me, to have had him
out here--impertinent puppy! Well, devil a halfpenny I'll pay him!"
This thought was consolatory, and he began again to think of Boulogne.
[FOOTNOTE 33: jobation--a tedious session; scolding]
XXI. LORD BALLINDINE AT HOME
Two days after the last recorded interview between Lord Ballindine and
his friend, Dot Blake, the former found himself once more sitting down
to dinner with his mother and sisters, the Honourable Mrs O'Kelly and
the Honourable Misses O'Kelly; at least such were the titular dignities
conferred on them in County Mayo, though I believe, strictly speaking,
the young ladies had no claim to the appellation.
Mrs O'Kelly was a very small woman, with no particularly developed
character, and perhaps of no very general utility. She was fond of her
daughters, and more than fond of her son, partly because he was so
tall and so handsome, and partly because he was the lord, the head
of the family, and the owner of the house. She was, on the whole, a
good-natured person, though perhaps her temper was a little soured by
her husband having, very unfairly, died before he had given her a right
to call herself Lady Ballindine. She was naturally shy and reserved,
and the seclusion of O'Kelly's Court did not tend to make her less so;
but she felt that the position and rank of her son required her to be
dignified; and consequently, when in society, she somewhat ridiculously
aggravated her natural timidity with an assumed rigidity of demeanour.
She was, however, a good woman, striving, with small means, to do the
best for her family; prudent and self-denying, and very diligent in
looking after the house servants.
Her two daughters had been, at the instance of their grandfather, the
courtier, christened Augusta and Sophia, after the two Princesses of
that name, and were now called Guss and Sophy: they were both pretty,
good-natured girls--one with dark brown and the other light brown hair:
they both played the harp badly, sung tolerably, danced well, and were
very fond of nice young men. They both thought Kelly's Court rather
dull; but then they had known nothing better since they had grown up,
and there were some tolerably nice people not very far off, whom they
occasionally saw: there were the Dillons, of Ballyhaunis, who had
three thousand a-year, and spent six; they were really a delightful
family--three daughters and four sons, all unmarried, and up to
anything: the sons all hunted, shot, danced, and did everything that
they ought to do--at least in the eyes of young ladies; though some of
their more coldly prudent acquaintances expressed an opinion that it
would be as well if the three younger would think of doing something
for themselves; but they looked so manly and handsome when they
breakfasted at Kelly's Court on a hunt morning, with their bright tops,
red coats, and hunting-caps, that Guss and Sophy, and a great many
others, thought it would be a shame to interrupt them in their career.
And then, Ballyhaunis was only eight miles from Kelly's Court; though
they were Irish miles, it is true, and the road was not patronised by
the Grand Jury; but the distance was only eight miles, and there were
always beds for them when they went to dinner at Peter Dillon's. Then
there were the Blakes of Castletown. To be sure they could give no
parties, for they were both unmarried; but they were none the worse
for that, and they had plenty of horses, and went out everywhere.
And the Blakes of Morristown; they also were very nice people; only
unfortunately, old Blake was always on his keeping, and couldn't show
himself out of doors except on Sundays, for fear of the bailiffs. And
the Browns of Mount Dillon, and the Browns of Castle Brown; and General
Bourke of Creamstown. All these families lived within fifteen or
sixteen miles of Kelly's Court, and prevented the O'Kellys from
feeling themselves quite isolated from the social world. Their nearest
neighbours, however, were the Armstrongs, and of them they saw a great
deal.
The Reverend Joseph Armstrong was rector of Ballindine, and Mrs O'Kelly
was his parishioner, and the only Protestant one he had; and, as Mr
Armstrong did not like to see his church quite deserted, and as Mrs
O'Kelly was, as she flattered herself, a very fervent Protestant, they
were all in all to each other.
Ballindine was not a good living, and Mr Armstrong had a very large
family; he was, therefore, a poor man. His children were helpless,
uneducated, and improvident; his wife was nearly worn out with the
labours of bringing them forth and afterwards catering for them; and
a great portion of his own life was taken up in a hard battle with
tradesmen and tithe-payers, creditors, and debtors. Yet, in spite of
the insufficiency of his two hundred a-year to meet all or half his
wants, Mr Armstrong was not an unhappy man. At any moment of social
enjoyment he forgot all his cares and poverty, and was always the
first to laugh, and the last to cease to do so. He never refused an
invitation to dinner, and if he did not entertain many in his own
house, it was his fortune, and not his heart, that prevented him from
doing so. He could hardly be called a good clergyman, and yet his
remissness was not so much his own fault as that of circumstances. How
could a Protestant rector be a good parish clergyman, with but one old
lady and her daughters, for the exercise of his clerical energies and
talents? He constantly lauded the zeal of St. Paul for proselytism;
but, as he himself once observed, even St. Paul had never had to deal
with the obstinacy of an Irish Roman Catholic. He often regretted the
want of work, and grieved that his profession, as far as he saw and had
been instructed, required nothing of him but a short service on every
Sunday morning, and the celebration of the Eucharist four times a-year;
but such were the facts; and the idleness which this want of work
engendered, and the habits which his poverty induced, had given him
a character as a clergyman, very different from that which the high
feelings and strict principles which animated him at his ordination
would have seemed to ensure. He was, in fact, a loose, slovenly man,
somewhat too fond of his tumbler of punch; a little lax, perhaps, as to
clerical discipline, but very staunch as to doctrine. He possessed no
industry or energy of any kind; but he was good-natured and charitable,
lived on friendly terms with all his neighbours, and was intimate with
every one that dwelt within ten miles of him, priest and parson, lord
and commoner.
Such was the neighbourhood of Kelly's Court, and among such Lord
Ballindine had now made up his mind to remain a while, till
circumstances should decide what further steps he should take with
regard to Fanny Wyndham. There were a few hunting days left in the
season, which he intended to enjoy; and then he must manage to make
shift to lull the time with shooting, fishing, farming, and nursing his
horses and dogs.
His mother and sisters had heard nothing of the rumour of the quarrel
between Frank and Fanny, which Mat Tierney had so openly alluded to at
Handicap Lodge; and he was rather put out by their eager questions on
the subject. Nothing was said about it till the servant withdrew, after
dinner, but the three ladies were too anxious for information to delay
their curiosity any longer.
"Well, Frank," said the elder sister, who was sitting over the
fire, close to his left elbow--(he had a bottle of claret at his
right)--"well, Frank, do tell us something about Fanny Wyndham; we are
so longing to hear; and you never will write, you know."
"Everybody says it's a brilliant match," said the mother. "They say
here she's forty thousand pounds: I'm sure I hope she has, Frank."
"But when is it to be?" said Sophy. "She's of age now, isn't she? and
I thought you were only waiting for that. I'm sure we shall like her;
come, Frank, do tell us--when are we to see Lady Ballindine?"
Frank looked rather serious and embarrassed, but did not immediately
make any reply.
"You haven't quarrelled, have you, Frank?" said the mother.
"The match isn't off--is it?" said Guss.
"Miss Wyndham has just lost her only brother," said he; "he died quite
suddenly in London about ten days since; she was very much attached to
him."
"Good gracious, how shocking!" said Sophy.
"I'm sorry," said Guss.
"Why, Frank," said their mother, now excited into absolute animation;
"his fortune was more than double hers, wasn't it?--who'll have it
now?"
"It was, mother; five times as much as hers, I believe."
"Gracious powers! and who has it now? Why don't you tell me, Frank?"
"His sister Fanny."
"Heavens and earth!--I hope you're not going to let her quarrel with
you, are you? Has there been anything between you? Have there been any
words between you and Lord Cashel? Why don't you tell me, Frank, when
you know how anxious I am?"
"If you must know all about it, I have not had any words, as you call
them, with Fanny Wyndham; but I have with her guardian. He thinks a
hundred and twenty thousand pounds much too great a fortune for a
Connaught viscount. However, I don't think so. It will be for time to
show what Fanny thinks. Meanwhile, the less said about it the better;
remember that, girls, will you?"
"Oh, we will--we won't say a word about it; but she'll never change her
mind because of her money, will she?"
"That's what would make me love a man twice the more," said Guss; "or
at any rate show it twice the stronger."
"Frank," said the anxious mother, "for heaven's sake don't let anything
stand between you and Lord Cashel; think what a thing it is you'd lose!
Why; it'd pay all the debts, and leave the property worth twice what it
ever was before. If Lord Cashel thinks you ought to give up the hounds,
do it at once, Frank; anything rather than quarrel with him. You could
get them again, you know, when all's settled."
"I've given up quite as much as I intend for Lord Cashel."
"Now, Frank, don't be a fool, or you'll repent it all your life: what
does it signify how much you give up to such a man as Lord Cashel? You
don't think, do you, that he objects to our being at Kelly's Court?
Because I'm sure we wouldn't stay a moment if we thought that."
"Mother, I wouldn't part with a cur dog out of the place to please Lord
Cashel. But if I were to do everything on earth at his beck and will,
it would make no difference: he will never let me marry Fanny Wyndham
if he can help it; but, thank God, I don't believe he can."
"I hope not--I hope not. You'll never see half such a fortune again."
"Well, mother, say nothing about it one way or the other, to anybody.
And as you now know how the matter stands, it's no good any of us
talking more about it till I've settled what I mean to do myself."
"I shall hate her," said Sophy, "if her getting all her brother's money
changes her; but I'm sure it won't." And so the conversation ended.
Lord Ballindine had not rested in his paternal halls the second night,
before he had commenced making arrangements for a hunt breakfast, by
way of letting all his friends know that he was again among them.
And so missives, in Guss and Sophy's handwriting, were sent round
by a bare-legged little boy, to all the Mounts, Towns, and Castles,
belonging to the Dillons, Blakes, Bourkes, and Browns of the
neighbourhood, to tell them that the dogs would draw the Kelly's Court
covers at eleven o'clock on the following Tuesday morning, and that the
preparatory breakfast would be on the table at ten. This was welcome
news to the whole neighbourhood. It was only on the Sunday evening
that the sportsmen got the intimation, and very busy most of them
were on the following Monday to see that their nags and breeches
were all right--fit to work and fit to be seen. The four Dillons, of
Ballyhaunis, gave out to their grooms a large assortment of pipe-clay
and putty-powder. Bingham Blake, of Castletown, ordered a new set of
girths to his hunting saddle; and his brother Jerry, who was in no
slight degree proud of his legs, but whose nether trappings were rather
the worse from the constant work of a heavy season, went so far as to
go forth very early on the Monday morning to excite the Ballinrobe
tailor to undertake the almost impossible task of completing him a pair
of doeskin by the Tuesday morning. The work was done, and the breeches
home at Castletown by eight--though the doeskin had to be purchased in
Tuam, and an assistant artist taken away from his mother's wake, to sit
up all night over the seams. But then the tailor owed a small trifle
of arrear of rent for his potato-garden, and his landlord was Jerry
Blake's cousin-german [34]. There's nothing carries one further than a
good connexion, thought both Jerry and the tailor when the job was
finished.
[FOOTNOTE 34: cousin-german--first cousin]
Among the other invitations sent was one to Martin Kelly,--not exactly
worded like the others, for though Lord Ballindine was perhaps more
anxious to see him than anyone else, Martin had not yet got quite so
high in the ladder of life as to be asked to breakfast at Kelly's
Court. But the fact that Frank for a moment thought of asking him
showed that he was looking upwards in the world's estimation. Frank
wrote him a note himself, saying that the hounds would throw off at
Kelly's Court, at eleven; that, if he would ride over, he would be sure
to see a good hunt, and that he, Lord Ballindine, had a few words to
say to him on business, just while the dogs were being put into the
cover. Martin, as usual, had a good horse which he was disposed to
sell, if, as he said, he got its value; and wrote to say he would wait
on Lord Ballindine at eleven. The truth was, Frank wanted to borrow
money from him.
Another note was sent to the Glebe, requesting the Rector to come to
breakfast and to look at the hounds being thrown off. The modest style
of the invitation was considered as due to Mr Armstrong's clerical
position, but was hardly rendered necessary by his habits; for though
the parson attended such meetings in an old suit of rusty black, and
rode an equally rusty-looking pony, he was always to be seen, at the
end of the day, among those who were left around the dogs.
On the Tuesday morning there was a good deal of bustle at Kelly's
Court. All the boys about the place were collected in front of the
house, to walk the gentlemen's horses about while the riders were at
breakfast, and earn a sixpence or a fourpenny bit; and among them,
sitting idly on the big steppingstone placed near the door, was Jack
the fool, who, for the day, seemed to have deserted the service of
Barry Lynch.
And now the red-coats flocked up to the door, and it was laughable
to see the knowledge of character displayed by the gossoons in the
selection of their customers. One or two, who were known to be "bad
pays," were allowed to dismount without molestation of any kind, and
could not even part with their steeds till they had come to an absolute
bargain as to the amount of gratuity to be given. Lambert Brown was one
of these unfortunate characters--a younger brother who had a little,
and but a very little money, and who was determined to keep that. He
was a miserable hanger-on at his brother's house, without profession
or prospects; greedy, stingy, and disagreeable; endowed with a squint,
and long lank light-coloured hair: he was a bad horseman, always
craning and shirking in the field, boasting and lying after dinner;
nevertheless, he was invited and endured because he was one of the
Browns of Mount Dillon, cousin to the Browns of Castle Brown, nephew to
Mrs Dillon the member's wife, and third cousin of Lord Ballaghaderrin.
He dismounted in the gravel circle before the door, and looked round
for someone to take his horse; but none of the urchins would come to
him. At last he caught hold of a little ragged boy whom he knew, from
his own side of the country, and who had come all the way there, eight
long Irish miles, on the chance of earning sixpence and seeing a hunt.
"Here, Patsy, come here, you born little divil," and he laid hold of
the arm of the brat, who was trying to escape from him--"come and hold
my horse for me--and I'll not forget you."
"Shure, yer honer, Mr Lambert, I can't thin, for I'm afther engaging
myself this blessed minute to Mr Larry Dillon, only he's jist trotted
round to the stables to spake a word to Mick Keogh."
"Don't be lying, you little blackguard; hould the horse, and don't stir
out of that."
"Shure how can I, Mr Lambert, when I've been and guv my word to Mr
Larry?" and the little fellow put his hands behind him, that he might
not be forced to take hold of the reins.
"Don't talk to me, you young imp, but take the horse. I'll not forget
you when I come out. What's the matter with you, you fool; d'ye think
I'd tell you a lie about it?"
Patsy evidently thought he would; for though he took the horse almost
upon compulsion, he whimpered as he did so, and said:
"Shure, Mr Lambert, would you go and rob a poor boy of his chances?--I
come'd all the way from Ballyglass this blessed morning to 'arn a
tizzy, and av' I doesn't get it from you this turn, I'll--" But Lambert
Brown had gone into the house, and on his return after breakfast he
fully justified the lad's suspicion, for he again promised him that he
wouldn't forget him, and that he'd see him some day at Mr Dillon's.
"Well, Lambert Brown," said the boy, as that worthy gentleman rode off,
"it's you're the raal blackguard--and it's well all the counthry knows
you: sorrow be your bed this night; it's little the poor'll grieve for
you, when you're stretched, or the rich either, for the matther of
that."
Very different was the reception Bingham Blake got, as he drove up with
his tandem and tax-cart: half-a-dozen had kept themselves idle, each in
the hope of being the lucky individual to come in for Bingham's
shilling.
"Och, Mr Bingham, shure I'm first," roared one fellow.
But the first, as he styled himself, was soon knocked down under the
wheels of the cart by the others.
"Mr Blake, thin--Mr Blake, darlint--doesn't ye remimber the promise you
guv me?"
"Mr Jerry, Mr Jerry, avick,"--this was addressed to the brother--"spake
a word for me; do, yer honour; shure it was I come all the way from
Teddy Mahony's with the breeches this morning, God bless 'em, and the
fine legs as is in 'em."
But they were all balked, for Blake had his servant there.
"Get out, you blackguards!" said he, raising his tandem whip, as if to
strike them. "Get out, you robbers! Are you going to take the cart and
horses clean away from me? That mare'll settle some of ye, if you make
so free with her! she's not a bit too chary of her hind feet. Get out
of that, I tell you;" and he lightly struck with the point of his whip
the boy who had Lambert Brown's horse.
"Ah, Mr Bingham," said, the boy, pretending to rub the part very hard,
"you owe me one for that, anyhow, and it's you are the good mark for
it, God bless you."
"Faix," said another, "one blow from your honour is worth two promises
from Lambert Brown, any way."
There was a great laugh at this among the ragged crew, for Lambert
Brown was still standing on the doorsteps: when he heard this sally,
however, he walked in, and the different red-coats and top-boots were
not long in crowding after him.
Lord Ballindine received them in the same costume, and very glad they
all seemed to see him again. When an Irish gentleman is popular in his
neighbourhood, nothing can exceed the real devotion paid to him; and
when that gentleman is a master of hounds, and does not require a
subscription, he is more than ever so.
"Welcome back, Ballindine--better late than never; but why did you stay
away so long?" said General Bourke, an old gentleman with long, thin,
flowing grey hairs, waving beneath his broad-brimmed felt hunting-hat.
"You're not getting so fond of the turf, I hope, as to be giving up the
field for it? Give me the sport where I can ride my own horse myself;
not where I must pay a young rascal for doing it for me, and robbing me
into the bargain, most likely."
"Quite right, General," said Frank; "so you see I've given up the
Curragh, and come down to the dogs again."
"Yes, but you've waited too long, man; the dogs have nearly done their
work for this year. I'm sorry for it; the last day of the season is the
worst day in the year to me. I'm ill for a week after it."
"Well, General, please the pigs, we'll be in great tune next October.
I've as fine a set of puppies to enter as there is in Ireland, let
alone Connaught. You must come down, and tell me what you think of
them."
"Next October's all very well for you young fellows, but I'm
seventy-eight. I always make up my mind that I'll never turn out
another season, and it'll be true for me this year. I'm hunting over
sixty years, Ballindine, in these three counties. I ought to have had
enough of it by this time, you'll say."
"I'll bet you ten pounds," said Bingham Blake, "that you hunt after
eighty."
"Done with you Bingham," said the General, and the bet was booked.
General Bourke was an old soldier, who told the truth in saying that he
had hunted over the same ground sixty years ago. But he had not been
at it ever since, for he had in the meantime seen a great deal of hard
active service, and obtained high military reputation. But he had again
taken kindly to the national sport of his country, on returning to
his own estate at the close of the Peninsular War; and had ever since
attended the meets twice a week through every winter, with fewer
exceptions than any other member of the hunt. He always wore
top-boots--of the ancient cut, with deep painted tops and square toes,
drawn tight up over the calf of his leg; a pair of most capacious
dark-coloured leather breeches, the origin of which was unknown to
any other present member of the hunt, and a red frock coat, very much
soiled by weather, water, and wear. The General was a rich man, and
therefore always had a horse to suit him. On the present occasion, he
was riding a strong brown beast, called Parsimony, that would climb
over anything, and creep down the gable end of a house if he were
required to do so. He was got by OEconomy; those who know county Mayo
know the breed well.
They were now all crowded into the large dining-room at Kelly's Court;
about five-and-twenty redcoats, and Mr Armstrong's rusty black. In
spite of his shabby appearance, however, and the fact that the greater
number of those around him were Roman Catholics, he seemed to be very
popular with the lot; and his opinion on the important subject of its
being a scenting morning was asked with as much confidence in his
judgment, as though the foxes of the country were peculiarly subject to
episcopalian jurisdiction.
"Well, then, Peter," said he, "the wind's in the right quarter. Mick
says there's a strong dog-fox in the long bit of gorse behind the firs;
if he breaks from that he must run towards Ballintubber, and when
you're once over the meering [5] into Roscommon, there's not an acre of
tilled land, unless a herd's garden, between that and--the deuce knows
where all--further than most of you'll like to ride, I take it."
[FOOTNOTE 35: meering--a well-marked boundary, such as a ditch or
fence, between farms, fields, bogs, etc]
"How far'll you go yourself, Armstrong? Faith, I believe it's few of
the crack nags'll beat the old black pony at a long day."
"Is it I?" said the Parson, innocently. "As soon as I've heard the dogs
give tongue, and seen them well on their game, I'll go home. I've land
ploughing, and I must look after that. But, as I was saying, if the fox
breaks well away from the gorse, you'll have the best run you've seen
this season; but if he dodges back into the plantation, you'll have
enough to do to make him break at all; and when he does, he'll go away
towards Ballyhaunis, through as cross a country as ever a horse put a
shoe into."
And having uttered this scientific prediction, which was listened to
with the greatest deference by Peter Dillon, the Rev. Joseph Armstrong
turned his attention to the ham and tea.
The three ladies were all smiles to meet their guests; Mrs O'Kelly,
dressed in a piece of satin turk, came forward to shake hands with
the General, but Sophy and Guss kept their positions, beneath the
coffee-pot and tea-urn, at each end of the long table, being very
properly of opinion that it was the duty of the younger part of the
community to come forward, and make their overtures to them. Bingham
Blake, the cynosure on whom the eyes of the beauty of county Mayo were
most generally placed, soon found his seat beside Guss, rather to
Sophy's mortification; but Sophy was good-natured, and when Peter
Dillon placed himself at her right hand, she was quite happy, though
Peter's father was still alive, and Bingham's had been dead this many a
year and Castletown much in want of a mistress.
"Now, Miss O'Kelly," said Bingham, "do let me manage the coffee-pot;
the cream-jug and sugar-tongs will be quite enough for your energies."
"Indeed and I won't, Mr Blake; you're a great deal too awkward, and a
great deal too hungry. The last hunt-morning you breakfasted here you
threw the coffee-grouts into the sugar-basin, when I let you help me."
"To think of your remembering that!--but I'm improved since then. I've
been taking lessons with my old aunt at Castlebar."
"You don't mean you've really been staying with Lady Sarah?"
"Oh, but I have, though. I was there three days; made tea every night;
washed the poodle every morning, and clear-starched her Sunday
pelerine, with my own hands on Saturday evening."
"Oh, what a useful animal! What a husband you'll make, when you're a
little more improved!"
"Shan't I? As you're so fond of accomplishments, perhaps you'll take me
yourself by-and-by?"
"Why, as you're so useful, maybe I may."
"Well, Lambert," said Lord Ballindine, across the table, to the stingy
gentleman with the squint, "are you going to ride hard to-day?"
"I'll go bail I'm not much behind, my lord," said Lambert; "if the dogs
go, I'll follow."
"I'll bet you a crown, Lambert," said his cousin, young Brown of Mount
Brown, "the dogs kill, and you don't see them do it."
"Oh, that may be, and yet I mayn't be much behind."
"I'll bet you're not in the next field to them."
"Maybe you'll not be within ten fields yourself."
"Come, Lambert, I'll tell you what--we'll ride together, and I'll bet
you a crown I pound you before you're over three leaps."
"Ah, now, take it easy with yourself," said Lambert; "there are others
ride better than you."
"But no one better than yourself; is that it, eh?"
"Well, Jerry, how do the new articles fit?" said Nicholas Dillon.
"Pretty well, thank you: they'd be a deal more comfortable though, if
you'd pay for them."
"Did you hear, Miss O'Kelly, what Jerry Blake did yesterday?" said
Nicholas Dillon aloud, across the table.
"Indeed, I did not," said Guss--"but I hope, for the sake of the Blakes
in general, he didn't do anything much amiss?"
"I'll tell you then," continued Nicholas. "A portion of his ould
hunting-dress--I'll not specify what, you know--but a portion, which
he'd been wearing since the last election, were too shabby to show:
well, he couldn't catch a hedge tailor far or near, only poor lame Andy
Oulahan, who was burying his wife, rest her sowl, the very moment Jerry
got a howld of him. Well, Jerry was wild that the tailors were so
scarce, so he laid his hands on Andy, dragged him away from the corpse
and all the illigant enthertainment of the funeral, and never let him
out of sight till he'd put on the last button."
"Oh, Mr Blake!" said Guss, "you did not take the man away from his dead
wife?"
"Indeed I did not, Miss O'Kelly: Andy'd no such good chance; his wife's
to the fore this day, worse luck for him. It was only his mother he was
burying."
"But you didn't take him away from his mother's funeral?"
"Oh, I did it according to law, you know. I got Bingham to give me a
warrant first, before I let the policeman lay a hand on him."
"Now, General, you've really made no breakfast at all," said the
hospitable hostess: "do let Guss give you a hot cup of coffee."
"Not a drop more, Mrs O'Kelly. I've done more than well; but, if you'll
allow me, I'll just take a crust of bread in my pocket."
"And what would you do that for?--you'll be coming back to lunch, you
know."
"Is it lunch, Mrs O'Kelly, pray don't think of troubling yourself to
have lunch on the table. Maybe we'll be a deal nearer Creamstown than
Kelly's Court at lunch time. But it's quite time we were off. As for
Bingham Blake, from the look of him, he's going to stay here with your
daughter Augusta all the morning."
"I believe then he'd much sooner be with the dogs, General, than losing
his time with her."
"Are you going to move at all, Ballindine," said the impatient old
sportsman. "Do you know what time it is?--it'll be twelve o'clock
before you have the dogs in the cover."
"Very good time, too, General: men must eat, you know, and the fox
won't stir till we move him. But come, gentlemen, you seem to be
dropping your knives and forks. Suppose we get into our saddles?"
And again the red-coats sallied out. Bingham gave Guss a tender
squeeze, which she all but returned, as she bade him take care and not
go and kill himself. Peter Dillon stayed to have a few last words with
Sophy, and to impress upon her his sister Nora's message, that she and
_her_ sister were to be sure to come over on Friday to Ballyhaunis, and
spend the night there.
"We will, if we're let, tell Nora," said Sophy; "but now Frank's at
home, we must mind him, you know."
"Make him bring you over: there'll be a bed for him; the old house is
big enough, heaven knows."
"Indeed it is. Well, I'll do my best; but tell Nora to be sure and get
the fiddler from Hollymount. It's so stupid for her to be sitting there
at the piano while we're dancing."
"I'll manage that; only do you bring Frank to dance with her," and
another tender squeeze was given--and Peter hurried out to the horses.
And now they were all gone but the Parson. "Mrs O'Kelly," said he, "Mrs
Armstrong wants a favour from you. Poor Minny's very bad with her
throat; she didn't get a wink of sleep last night."
"Dear me--poor thing; Can I send her anything?"
"If you could let them have a little black currant jelly, Mrs Armstrong
would be so thankful. She has so much to think of, and is so weak
herself, poor thing, she hasn't time to make those things."
"Indeed I will, Mr Armstrong. I'll send it down this morning; and a
little calf's foot jelly won't hurt her. It is in the house, and Mrs
Armstrong mightn't be able to get the feet, you know. Give them my
love, and if I can get out at all to-morrow, I'll go and see them."
And so the Parson, having completed his domestic embassy for the
benefit of his sick little girl, followed the others, keen for the
hunt; and the three ladies were left alone, to see the plate and china
put away.
XXII. THE HUNT
Though the majority of those who were in the habit of hunting with
the Kelly's Court hounds had been at the breakfast, there were still
a considerable number of horsemen waiting on the lawn in front of
the house, when Frank and his friends sallied forth. The dogs were
collected round the huntsman, behaving themselves, for the most part,
with admirable propriety; an occasional yelp from a young hound would
now and then prove that the whipper [36] had his eye on them, and would
not allow rambling; but the old dogs sat demurely on their haunches,
waiting the well-known signal for action. There they sat, as grave
as so many senators, with their large heads raised, their heavy lips
hanging from each side of their jaws, and their deep, strong chests
expanded so as to show fully their bone, muscle, and breeding.
[FOOTNOTE 36: whipper--an officer of the hunt whose duty was to
help the hunstman control the hounds]
Among the men who had arrived on the lawn during breakfast were two who
certainly had not come together, and who had not spoken since they had
been there. They were Martin Kelly and Barry Lynch. Martin was dressed
just as usual, except that he had on a pair of spurs, but Barry
was armed cap-a-pie [37]. Some time before his father's death he
had supplied himself with all the fashionable requisites for the
field,--not because he was fond of hunting, for he was not,--but in
order to prove himself as much a gentleman as other people. He had been
out twice this year, but had felt very miserable, for no one spoke to
him, and he had gone home, on both occasions, early in the day; but
he had now made up his mind that he would show himself to his old
schoolfellow in his new character as an independent country gentleman;
and what was more, he was determined that Lord Ballindine should not
cut him.
[FOOTNOTE 37: cap-a-pie--from head to foot]
He very soon had an opportunity for effecting his purpose, for the
moment that Frank got on his horse, he unintentionally rode close up to
him.
"How d'ye do, my lord?--I hope I see your lordship well?" said Barry,
with a clumsy attempt at ease and familiarity. "I'm glad to find your
lordship in the field before the season's over."
"Good morning, Mr Lynch," said Frank, and was turning away from him,
when, remembering that he must have come from Dunmore, he asked, "did
you see Martin Kelly anywhere?"
"Can't say I did, my lord," said Barry, and he turned away completely
silenced, and out of countenance.
Martin had been talking to the huntsman, and criticizing the hounds.
He knew every dog's name, character, and capabilities, and also every
horse in Lord Ballindine's stable, and was consequently held in great
respect by Mick Keogh and his crew.
And now the business began. "Mick," said the lord, "we'll take them
down to the young plantation, and bring them back through the firs and
so into the gorse. If the lad's lying there, we must hit him that way."
"That's thrue for yer honer, my lord;" and he started off with his
obedient family.
"You're wrong, Ballindine," said the Parson; "for you'll drive him up
into the big plantation, and you'll be all day before you make him
break; and ten to one they'll chop him in the cover."
"Would you put them into the gorse at once then?"
"Take 'em gently through the firs; maybe he's lying out--and down into
the gorse, and then, if he's there, he must go away, and into a tip-top
country too--miles upon miles of pasture--right away to Ballintubber,"
"That's thrue, too, my lord: let his Rivirence alone for understandhing
a fox," said Mick, with a wink.
The Parson's behests were obeyed. The hounds followed Mick into the
plantation, and were followed by two or three of the more eager of the
party, who did not object to receiving wet boughs in their faces, or
who delighted in riding for half an hour with their heads bowed close
down over their saddle-bows. The rest remained with the whipper,
outside.
"Stay a moment here, Martin," said Lord Ballindine. "They can't get
away without our seeing them, and I want to speak a few words to you."
"And I want particularly to spake to your lordship," said Martin; "and
there's no fear of the fox! I never knew a fox lie in those firs yet."
"Nor I either, but you see the Parson would have his way. I suppose, if
the priest were out, and he told you to run the dogs through the
gooseberry-bushes, you'd do it?"
"I'm blessed if I would, my lord! Every man to his trade. Not but what
Mr Armstrong knows pretty well what he's about."
"Well but, Martin, I'll tell you what I want of you. I want a little
money, without bothering those fellows up in Dublin; and I believe you
could let me have it; at any rate, you and your mother together. Those
fellows at Guinness's are stiff about it, and I want three hundred
pounds, without absolutely telling them that they must give it me. I'd
give you my bill for the amount at twelve months, and, allow you six
per cent.; but then I want it immediately. Can you let me have it?"
"Why, my lord," said Martin, after pausing awhile and looking very
contemplative during the time, "I certainly have the money; that is, I
and mother together; but--"
"Oh, if you've any doubt about it--or if it puts you out, don't do it."
"Divil a doubt on 'arth, my lord; but I'll tell you I was just going to
ask your lordship's advice about laying out the same sum in another
way, and I don't think I could raise twice that much."
"Very well, Martin; if you've anything better to do with your money,
I'm sure I'd be sorry to take it from you."
"That's jist it, my lord. I don't think I can do betther--but I want
your advice about it."
"My advice whether you ought to lend me three hundred pounds or not!
Why, Martin, you're a fool. I wouldn't ask you to lend it me, if I
thought you oughtn't to lend it."
"Oh--I'm certain sure of that, my lord; but there's an offer made me,
that I'd like to have your lordship's mind about. It's not much to my
liking, though; and I think it'll be betther for me to be giving you
the money," and then Martin told his landlord the offer which had been
made to him by Daly, on the part of Barry Lynch. "You see, my lord,"
he concluded by saying, "it'd be a great thing to be shut of Barry
entirely out of the counthry, and to have poor Anty's mind at ase about
it, should she iver live to get betther; but thin, I don't like to have
dailings with the divil, or any one so much of his colour as Barry
Lynch."
"This is a very grave matter, Martin, and takes some little time to
think about. To tell the truth, I forgot your matrimonial speculation
when I asked for the money. Though I want the cash, I think you should
keep it in your power to close with Barry: no, you'd better keep the
money by you."
"After all, the ould woman could let me have it on the security of the
house, you know, av' I did take up with the offer. So, any way, your
lordship needn't be balked about the cash."
"But is Miss Lynch so very ill, Martin?"
"'Deed, and she is, Mr Frank; very bad intirely. Doctor Colligan was
with her three times yestherday."
"And does Barry take any notice of her now she's ill?"
"Why, not yet he didn't; but then, we kept it from him as much as we
could, till it got dangerous like. Mother manes to send Colligan to him
to-day, av' he thinks she's not betther."
"If she were to die, Martin, there'd be an end of it all, wouldn't
there?"
"Oh, in course there would, my lord"--and then he added, with a sigh,
"I'd be sorry she'd die, for, somehow, I'm very fond of her, quare as
it'll seem to you. I'd be very sorry she should die."
"Of course you would, Martin; and it doesn't seem queer at all."
"Oh, I wasn't thinking about the money, then, my lord; I was only
thinking of Anty herself: you don't know what a good young woman she
is--it's anything but herself she's thinking of always."
"Did she make any will?"
"Deed she didn't, my lord: nor won't, it's my mind."
"Ah! but she should, after all that you and your mother've gone
through. It'd be a thousand pities that wretch Barry got all the
property again."
"He's wilcome to it for the Kellys, av' Anty dies. But av' she lives he
shall niver rob a penny from her. Oh, my lord! we wouldn't put sich a
thing as a will into her head, and she so bad, for all the money the
ould man their father iver had. But, hark! my lord--that's Gaylass, I
know the note well, and she's as true as gould: there's the fox there,
just inside the gorse, as the Parson said"--and away they both trotted,
to the bottom of the plantation, from whence the cheering sound of the
dog's voices came, sharp, sweet, and mellow.
Yes; the Parson was as right as if he had been let into the fox's
confidence overnight, and had betrayed it in the morning. Gaylass was
hardly in the gorse before she discovered the doomed brute's vicinity,
and told of it to the whole canine confraternity. Away from his
hiding-place he went, towards the open country, but immediately
returned into the covert, for he saw a lot of boys before him, who had
assembled with the object of looking at the hunt, but with the very
probable effect of spoiling it; for, as much as a fox hates a dog, he
fears the human race more, and will run from an urchin with a stick
into the jaws of his much more fatal enemy.
"As long as them blackguards is there, a hollowing, and a screeching,
divil a fox in all Ireland'd go out of this," said Mick to his master.
"Ah, boys," said Frank, riding up, "if you want to see a hunt, will you
keep back!"
"Begorra we will, yer honer," said one.
"Faix--we wouldn't be afther spiling your honer's divarsion, my lord,
on no account," said another.
"We'll be out o' this althogether, now this blessed minute," said a
third, but still there they remained, each loudly endeavouring to
banish the others.
At last, however, the fox saw a fair course before him, and away he
went; and with very little start, for the dogs followed him out of the
covert almost with a view.
And now the men settled themselves to the work, and began to strive
for the pride of place, at least the younger portion of them: for in
every field there are two classes of men. Those who go out to get the
greatest possible quantity of riding, and those whose object is to get
the least. Those who go to work their nags, and those who go to spare
them. The former think that the excellence of the hunt depends on the
horses; the latter, on the dogs. The former go to act, and the latter
to see. And it is very generally the case that the least active part of
the community know the most about the sport.
They, the less active part above alluded to, know every high-road and
bye-road; they consult the wind, and calculate that a fox won't run
with his nose against it; they remember this stream and this bog, and
avoid them; they are often at the top of eminences, and only descend
when they see which way the dogs are going; they take short cuts, and
lay themselves out for narrow lanes; they dislike galloping, and eschew
leaping; and yet, when a hard-riding man is bringing up his two hundred
guinea hunter, a minute or two late for the finish, covered with foam,
trembling with his exertion, not a breath left in him--he'll probably
find one of these steady fellows there before him, mounted on a
broken-down screw, but as cool and as fresh as when he was brought out
of the stable; and what is, perhaps, still more amazing, at the end of
the day, when the hunt is canvassed after dinner, our dashing friend,
who is in great doubt whether his thoroughbred steeplechaser will ever
recover his day's work, and who has been personally administering warm
mashes and bandages before he would venture to take his own boots off,
finds he does not know half as much about the hunt, or can tell half as
correctly where the game went, as our, quiet-going friend, whose hack
will probably go out on the following morning under the car, with the
mistress and children. Such a one was Parson Armstrong; and when Lord
Ballindine and most of the others went away after the hounds, he coolly
turned round in a different direction, crept through a broken wall into
a peasant's garden, and over a dunghill, by the cabin door into a road,
and then trotted along as demurely and leisurely as though he were
going to bury an old woman in the next parish.
Frank was, generally speaking, as good-natured a man as is often met,
but even he got excited and irritable when hunting his own pack. All
masters of hounds do. Some one was always too forward, another too near
the dogs, a third interfering with the servants, and a fourth making
too much noise.
"Confound it, Peter," he said, when they had gone over a field or two,
and the dogs missed the scent for a moment, "I thought at any rate you
knew better than to cross the dogs that way."
"Who crossed the dogs?" said the other--"what nonsense you're talking:
why I wasn't out of the potato-field till they were nearly all at the
next wall."
"Well, it may be nonsense," continued Frank; "but when I see a man
riding right through the hounds, and they hunting, I call that crossing
them."
"Hoicks! tally"--hollowed some one--"there's Graceful has it
again--well done, Granger! Faith, Frank, that's a good dog! if he's not
first, he's always second."
"Now, gentlemen, steady, for heaven's sake. Do let the dogs settle to
their work before you're a-top of them. Upon my soul, Nicholas Brown,
it's ridiculous to see you!"
"It'd be a good thing if he were half as much in a hurry to get to
heaven," said Bingham Blake.
"Thank'ee," said Nicholas; "go to heaven yourself. I'm well enough
where I am."
And now they were off again. In the next field the whole pack caught a
view of the fox just as he was stealing out; and after him they went,
with their noses well above the ground, their voices loud and clear,
and in one bevy.
Away they went: the game was strong; the scent was good; the ground was
soft, but not too soft; and a magnificent hunt they had; but there were
some misfortunes shortly after getting away. Barry Lynch, wishing,
in his ignorance, to lead and show himself off, and not knowing
how--scurrying along among the dogs, and bothered at every leap, had
given great offence to Lord Ballindine. But, not wishing to speak
severely to a man whom he would not under any circumstances address in
a friendly way, he talked at him, and endeavoured to bring him to order
by blowing up others in his hearing. But this was thrown away on Barry,
and he continued his career in a most disgusting manner; scrambling
through gaps together with the dogs, crossing other men without the
slightest reserve, annoying every one, and evidently pluming himself
on his performance. Frank's brow was getting blacker and blacker.
Jerry Blake and young Brown were greatly amusing themselves at
the exhibition, and every now and then gave him a word or two of
encouragement, praising his mare, telling how well he got over that
last fence, and bidding him mind and keep well forward. This was all
new to Barry, and he really began to feel himself in his element;--if
it hadn't been for those abominable walls, he would have enjoyed
himself. But this was too good to last, and before very long he made a
_faux pas_, which brought down on him in a torrent the bottled-up wrath
of the viscount.
They had been galloping across a large, unbroken sheep-walk, which
exactly suited Barry's taste, and he had got well forward towards the
hounds. Frank was behind, expostulating with Jerry Blake and the others
for encouraging him, when the dogs came to a small stone wall about two
feet and a half high. In this there was a broken gap, through which
many of them crept. Barry also saw this happy escape from the grand
difficulty of jumping, and, ignorant that if he rode the gap at all, he
should let the hounds go first, made for it right among them, in spite
of Frank's voice, now raised loudly to caution him. The horse the man
rode knew his business better than himself, and tried to spare the
dogs which were under his feet; but, in getting out, he made a slight
spring, and came down on the haunches of a favourite young hound called
"Goneaway"; he broke the leg close to the socket, and the poor beast
most loudly told his complaint.
This was too much to be borne, and Frank rode up red with passion; and
a lot of others, including the whipper, soon followed.
"He has killed the dog!" said he. "Did you ever see such a clumsy,
ignorant fool? Mr Lynch, if you'd do me the honour to stay away another
day, and amuse yourself in any other way, I should be much obliged."
"It wasn't my fault then," said Barry.
"Do you mean to give me the lie, sir?" replied Frank.
"The dog got under the horse's feet. How was I to help it?"
There was a universal titter at this, which made Barry wish himself at
home again, with his brandy-bottle.
"Ah! sir," said Frank; "you're as fit to ride a hunt as you are to do
anything else which gentlemen usually do. May I trouble you to make
yourself scarce? Your horse, I see, can't carry you much farther, and
if you'll take my advice, you'll go home, before you're ridden over
yourself. Well, Martin, is the bone broken?"
Martin had got off his horse, and was kneeling down beside the poor
hurt brute. "Indeed it is, my lord, in two places. You'd better let
Tony kill him; he has an awful sprain in the back, as well; he'll niver
put a foot to the ground again."
"By heavens, that's too bad! isn't it Bingham? He was, out and out, the
finest puppy we entered last year."
"What can you expect," said Bingham, "when such fellows as that come
into a field? He's as much business here as a cow in a drawing-room."
"But what can we do?--one can't turn him off the land; if he chooses to
come, he must."
"Why, yes," said Bingham, "if he will come he must. But then, if he
insists on doing so, he may be horsewhipped; he may be ridden over;
he may be kicked; and he may be told that he's a low, vulgar, paltry
scoundrel; and, if he repeats his visits, that's the treatment he'll
probably receive."
Barry was close to both the speakers, and of course heard, and was
intended to hear, every word that was said. He contented himself,
however, with muttering certain inaudible defiances, and was seen and
heard of no more that day.
The hunt was continued, and the fox was killed; but Frank and those
with him saw but little more of it. However, as soon as directions were
given for the death of poor Goneaway, they went on, and received a very
satisfactory account of the proceedings from those who had seen the
finish. As usual, the Parson was among the number, and he gave them a
most detailed history, not only of the fox's proceedings during the
day, but also of all the reasons which actuated the animal, in every
different turn he took.
"I declare, Armstrong," said Peter Dillon, "I think you were a fox
yourself, once! Do you remember anything about it?"
"What a run he would give!" said Jerry; "the best pack that was ever
kennelled wouldn't have a chance with him."
"Who was that old chap," said Nicholas Dillon, showing off his
classical learning, "who said that dead animals always became something
else?--maybe it's only in the course of nature for a dead fox to become
a live parson."
"Exactly: you've hit it," said Armstrong; "and, in the same way, the
moment the breath is out of a goose it becomes an idle squireen [38],
and, generally speaking, a younger brother."
[FOOTNOTE 38: squireen--diminutive of squire; a minor Irish
gentleman given to "putting on airs" or imitating
the manners and haughtiness of men of greater
wealth]
"Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Nick," said Jerry; "and take care
how you meddle with the Church again."
"Who saw anything of Lambert Brown?" said another; "I left him bogged
below there at Gurtnascreenagh, and all he could do, the old grey horse
wouldn't move a leg to get out for him."
"Oh, he's there still," said Nicholas. "He was trying to follow me, and
I took him there on purpose. It's not deep, and he'll do no hurt: he'll
keep as well there, as anywhere else."
"Nonsense, Dillon!" said the General--"you'll make his brother really
angry, if you go on that way. If the man's a fool, leave him in his
folly, but don't be playing tricks on him. You'll only get yourself
into a quarrel with the family."
"And how shall we manage about the money, my lord?" said Martin, as he
drew near the point at which he would separate from the rest, to ride
towards Dunmore. "I've been thinking about it, and there's no doubt
about having it for you on Friday, av that'll suit."
"That brother-in-law of yours is a most unmitigated blackguard, isn't
he, Martin?" said Frank, who was thinking more about poor Goneaway than
the money.
"He isn't no brother-in-law of mine yet, and probably niver will be,
for I'm afeard poor Anty'll go. But av he iver is, he'll soon take
himself out of the counthry, and be no more throuble to your lordship
or any of us."
"But to think of his riding right a-top of the poor brute, and then
saying that the dog got under his horse's feet! Why, he's a fool as
well as a knave. Was he ever out before?"
"Well, then, I believe he was, twice this year; though I didn't see him
myself."
"Then I hope this'll be the last time: three times is quite enough for
such a fellow as that."
"I don't think he'll be apt to show again afther what you and Mr
Bingham said to him. Well, shure, Mr Bingham was very hard on him!"
"Serve him right; nothing's too bad for him."
"Oh, that's thrue for you, my lord: I don't pity him one bit. But about
the money, and this job of my own. Av it wasn't asking too much, it'd
be a great thing av your lordship'd see Daly."
It was then settled that Lord Ballindine should ride over to Dunmore
on the following Friday, and if circumstances seemed to render it
advisable, that he and Martin should go on together to the attorney at
Tuam.
XXIII. DOCTOR COLLIGAN
Doctor Colligan, the Galen of Dunmore, though a practitioner of most
unprepossessing appearance and demeanour, was neither ignorant nor
careless. Though for many years he had courted the public in vain, his
neighbours had at last learned to know and appreciate him; and, at the
time of Anty's illness, the inhabitants of three parishes trusted their
corporeal ailments to his care, with comfort to themselves and profit
to him. Nevertheless, there were many things about Doctor Colligan not
calculated to inspire either respect or confidence. He always seemed
a little afraid of his patient, and very much afraid of his patient's
friends: he was always dreading the appearance at Dunmore of one of
those young rivals, who had lately established themselves at Tuam on
one side, and Hollymount on the other; and, to prevent so fatal a
circumstance, was continually trying to be civil and obliging to his
customers. He would not put on a blister, or order a black dose,
without consulting with the lady of the house, and asking permission
of the patient, and consequently had always an air of doubt and
indecision. Then, he was excessively dirty in his person and practice:
he carried a considerable territory beneath his nails; smelt equally
strongly of the laboratory and the stable; would wipe his hands on
the patient's sheets, and wherever he went left horrid marks of his
whereabouts: he was very fond of good eating and much drinking, and
would neglect the best customer that ever was sick, when tempted by the
fascination of a game of loo. He was certainly a bad family-man; for
though he worked hard for the support of his wife and children, he
was little among them, paid them no attention, and felt no scruple in
assuring Mrs C. that he had been obliged to remain up all night with
that dreadful Mrs Jones, whose children were always so tedious; or that
Mr Blake was so bad after his accident that he could not leave him for
a moment; when, to tell the truth, the Doctor had passed the night with
the cards in his hands, and a tumbler of punch beside him.
He was a tall, thick-set, heavy man, with short black curly hair; was a
little bald at the top of his head; and looked always as though he had
shaved himself the day before yesterday, and had not washed since. His
face was good-natured, but heavy and unintellectual. He was ignorant of
everything but his profession, and the odds on the card-table or the
race-course. But to give him his due, on these subjects he was not
ignorant; and this was now so generally known that, in dangerous cases,
Doctor Colligan had been sent for, many, many miles.
This was the man who attended poor Anty in her illness, and he did
as much for her as could be done; but it was a bad case, and Doctor
Colligan thought it would be fatal. She had intermittent fever, and
was occasionally delirious; but it was her great debility between the
attacks which he considered so dangerous.
On the morning after the hunt, he told Martin that he greatly feared
she would go off, from exhaustion, in a few days, and that it would be
wise to let Barry know the state in which his sister was. There was a
consultation on the subject between the two and Martin's mother, in
which it was agreed that the Doctor should go up to Dunmore House, and
tell Barry exactly the state of affairs.
"And good news it'll be for him," said Mrs Kelly; "the best he heard
since the ould man died. Av he had his will of her, she'd niver rise
from the bed where she's stretched. But, glory be to God, there's a
providence over all, and maybe she'll live yet to give him the go-by."
"How you talk, mother," said Martin; "and what's the use? Whatever he
wishes won't harum her; and maybe, now she's dying, his heart'll be
softened to her. Any way, don't let him have to say she died here,
without his hearing a word how bad she was."
"Maybe he'd be afther saying we murdhered her for her money," said the
widow, with a shudder.
"He can hardly complain of that, when he'll be getting all the money
himself. But, however, it's much betther, all ways, that Doctor
Colligan should see him."
"You know, Mrs Kelly," said the Doctor, "as a matter of course he'll be
asking to see his sister."
"You wouldn't have him come in here to her, would you?--Faix, Doctor
Colligan, it'll be her death out right at once av he does."
"It'd not be nathural, to refuse to let him see her," said the Doctor;
"and I don't think it would do any harm: but I'll be guided by you, Mrs
Kelly, in what I say to him."
"Besides," said Martin, "I know Anty would wish to see him: he is her
brother; and there's only the two of 'em."
"Between you be it," said the widow; "I tell you I don't like it. You
neither of you know Barry Lynch, as well as I do; he'd smother her av
it come into his head."
"Ah, mother, nonsense now; hould your tongue; you don't know what
you're saying."
"Well; didn't he try to do as bad before?"
"It wouldn't do, I tell you," continued Martin, "not to let him see
her; that is, av Anty wishes it."
It ended in the widow being sent into Anty's room, to ask her whether
she had any message to send to her brother. The poor girl knew how ill
she was, and expected her death; and when the widow told her that
Doctor Colligan was going to call on her brother, she said that she
hoped she should see Barry once more before all was over.
"Mother," said Martin, as soon as the Doctor's back was turned, "you'll
get yourself in a scrape av you go on saying such things as that about
folk before strangers."
"Is it about Barry?"
"Yes; about Barry. How do you know Colligan won't be repating all them
things to him?"
"Let him, and wilcome. Shure wouldn't I say as much to Barry Lynch
himself? What do I care for the blagguard?--only this, I wish I'd niver
heard his name, or seen his foot over the sill of the door. I'm sorry I
iver heard the name of the Lynches in Dunmore."
"You're not regretting the throuble Anty is to you, mother?"
"Regretting? I don't know what you mane by regretting. I don't know is
it regretting to be slaving as much and more for her than I would for
my own, and no chance of getting as much as thanks for it."
"You'll be rewarded hereafther, mother; shure won't it all go for
charity?"
"I'm not so shure of that," said the widow. "It was your schaming to
get her money brought her here, and, like a poor wake woman, as I was,
I fell into it; and now we've all the throuble and the expinse, and the
time lost, and afther all, Barry'll be getting everything when she's
gone. You'll see, Martin; we'll have the wake, and the funeral, and the
docthor and all, on us--mind my words else. Och musha, musha! what'll
I do at all? Faix, forty pounds won't clear what this turn is like to
come to; an' all from your dirthy undherhand schaming ways."
In truth, the widow was perplexed in her inmost soul about Anty; torn
and tortured by doubts and anxieties. Her real love of Anty and true
charity was in state of battle with her parsimony; and then, avarice
was strong within her; and utter, uncontrolled hatred of Barry still
stronger. But, opposed to these was dread of some unforeseen evil--some
tremendous law proceedings: she had a half-formed idea that she was
doing what she had no right to do, and that she might some day be
walked off to Galway assizes. Then again, she had an absurd pride about
it, which often made her declare that she'd never be beat by such a
"scum of the 'arth" as Barry Lynch, and that she'd fight it out with
him if it cost her a hundred pounds; though no one understood what the
battle was which she was to fight.
Just before Anty's illness had become so serious, Daly called, and had
succeeded in reconciling both Martin and the widow to himself; but he
had not quite made them agree to his proposal. The widow, indeed, was
much averse to it. She wouldn't deal with such a Greek as Barry, even
in the acceptance of a boon. When she found him willing to compromise,
she became more than ever averse to any friendly terms; but now the
whole ground was slipping from under her feet. Anty was dying: she
would have had her trouble for nothing; and that hated Barry would gain
his point, and the whole of his sister's property, in triumph.
Twenty times the idea of a will had come into her mind, and how
comfortable it would be if Anty would leave her property, or at any
rate a portion of it, to Martin. But though the thoughts of such a
delightful arrangement kept her in a continual whirlwind of anxiety,
she never hinted at the subject to Anty. As she said to herself, "a
Kelly wouldn't demane herself to ask a brass penny from a Lynch." She
didn't even speak to her daughters about it, though the continual
twitter she was in made them aware that there was some unusual burthen
on her mind.
It was not only to the Kellys that the idea occurred that Anty in her
illness might make a will. The thoughts of such a catastrophe had
robbed Barry of half the pleasure which the rumours of his sister's
dangerous position had given him. He had not received any direct
intimation of Anty's state, but had heard through the servants that she
was ill--very ill--dangerously--"not expected," as the country people
call it; and each fresh rumour gave him new hopes, and new life. He
now spurned all idea of connexion with Martin; he would trample on the
Kellys for thinking of such a thing: he would show Daly, when in the
plenitude of his wealth and power, how he despised the lukewarmness
and timidity of his councils. These and other delightful visions were
floating through his imagination; when, all of a sudden, like a blow,
like a thunderbolt, the idea of _a will_ fell as it were upon him with
a ton weight. His heart sunk low within him; he became white, and his
jaw dropped. After all, there were victory and triumph, plunder and
wealth, _his_ wealth, in the very hands of his enemies! Of course the
Kellys would force her to make a will, if she didn't do it of her
own accord; if not, they'd forge one. There was some comfort in that
thought: he could at any rate contest the will, and swear that it was
a forgery.
He swallowed a dram, and went off, almost weeping to Daly.
"Oh, Mr Daly, poor Anty's dying: did you hear, Mr Daly--she's all but
gone?" Yes; Daly had been sorry to hear that Miss Lynch was very ill.
"What shall I do," continued Barry, "if they say that she's left a
will?"
"Go and hear it read. Or, if you don't like to do that yourself, stay
away, and let me hear it."
"But they'll forge one! They'll make out what they please, and when
she's dying, they'll make her put her name to it; or they'll only just
put the pen in her hand, when she's not knowing what she's doing.
They'd do anything now, Daly, to get the money they've been fighting
for so hard."
"It's my belief," answered the attorney, "that the Kellys not only
won't do anything dishonest, but that they won't even take any unfair
advantage of you. But at any rate you can do nothing. You must wait
patiently; you, at any rate, can take no steps till she's dead."
"But couldn't she make a will in my favour? I know she'd do it if I
asked her--if I asked her now--now she's going off, you know. I'm sure
she'd do it. Don't you think she would?"
"You're safer, I think, to let it alone," said Daly, who could hardly
control the ineffable disgust he felt.
"I don't know that," continued Barry. "She's weak, and 'll do what
she's asked: besides, _they'll_ make her do it. Fancy if, when she's
gone, I find I have to share everything with those people!" And he
struck his forehead and pushed the hair off his perspiring face, as he
literally shook with despair. "I must see her, Daly. I'm quite sure
she'll make a will if I beg her; they can't hinder me seeing my own,
only, dying sister; can they, Daly? And when I'm once there, I'll sit
with her, and watch till it's all over. I'm sure, now she's ill, I'd do
anything for her."
Daly said nothing, though Barry paused for him to reply. "Only about
the form," continued he, "I wouldn't know what to put. By heavens,
Daly! you must come with me. You can be up at the house, and I can
have you down at a minute's warning." Daly utterly declined, but Barry
continued to press him. "But you must, Daly; I tell you I know I'm
right. I know her so well--she'll do it at once for the sake--for the
sake of--You know she is my own sister, and all that--and she thinks so
much of that kind of thing. I'll tell you what, Daly; upon my honour
and soul," and he repeated the words in a most solemn tone, "if you'll
draw the will, and she signs it, so that I come in for the whole
thing--and I know she will I'll make over fifty--ay, seventy pounds a
year for you for ever and ever. I will, as I live."
The interview ended by the attorney turning Barry Lynch into the
street, and assuring him that if he ever came into his office again,
on any business whatsoever, he would unscrupulously kick him out.
So ended, also, the connexion between the two; for Daly never got a
farthing for his labour. Indeed, after all that had taken place, he
thought it as well not to trouble his _ci-devant_ client with a bill.
Barry went home, and of course got drunk.
When Doctor Colligan called on Lynch, he found that he was not at home.
He was at that very moment at Tuam, with the attorney. The doctor
repeated his visit later in the afternoon, but Barry had still not
returned, and he therefore left word that he would call early after
breakfast the following morning. He did so; and, after waiting half an
hour in the dining-room, Barry, only half awake and half dressed, and
still half drunk, came down to him.
The doctor, with a long face, delivered his message, and explained
to him the state in which his sister was lying; assured him that
everything in the power of medicine had been and should be done; that,
nevertheless, he feared the chance of recovery was remote; and ended
by informing him that Miss Lynch was aware of her danger, and had
expressed a wish to see him before it might be too late. Could he
make it convenient to come over just now--in half an hour--or say an
hour?--said the doctor, looking at the red face and unfinished toilet
of the distressed brother.
Barry at first scarcely knew what reply to give. On his return from
Tuam, he had determined that he would at any rate make his way into his
sister's room, and, as he thought to himself, see what would come of
it. In his after-dinner courage he had further determined, that he
would treat the widow and her family with a very high hand, if they
dared to make objection to his seeing his sister; but now, when the
friendly overture came from Anty herself, and was brought by one of the
Kelly faction, he felt himself a little confounded, as though he rather
dreaded the interview, and would wish to put it off for a day or two.
"Oh, yes--certainly, Doctor Colligan; to be sure--that is--tell me,
doctor, is she really so bad?"
"Indeed, Mr Lynch, she is very weak."
"But, doctor, you don't think there is any chance--I mean, there isn't
any danger, is there, that she'd go off at once?"
"Why, no, I don't think there is; indeed, I have no doubt she will hold
out a fortnight yet."
"Then, perhaps, doctor, I'd better put it off till to-morrow; I'll tell
you why: there's a person I wish--"
"Why, Mr Lynch, to-day would be better. The fever's periodical, you
see, and will be on her again to-morrow--"
"I beg your pardon, Doctor Colligan," said Barry, of a sudden
remembering to be civil,--"but you'll take a glass of wine?"
"Not a drop, thank ye, of anything."
"Oh, but you will;" and Barry rang the bell and had the wine brought.
"And you expect she'll have another attack to-morrow?"
"That's a matter of course, Mr Lynch; the fever'll come on her again
to-morrow. Every attack leaves her weaker and weaker, and we fear
she'll go off, before it leaves her altogether."
"Poor thing!" said Barry, contemplatively.
"We had her head shaved," said the doctor.
"Did you, indeed!" answered Barry. "She was my favourite sister, Doctor
Colligan--that is, I had no other."
"I believe not," said Doctor Colligan, looking sympathetic.
"Take another glass of wine, doctor?--now do," and he poured out
another bumper.
"Thank'ee, Mr Lynch, thank'ee; not a drop more. And you'll be over in
an hour then? I'd better go and tell her, that she may be prepared, you
know," and the doctor returned to the sick room of his patient.
Barry remained standing in the parlour, looking at the glasses and the
decanter, as though he were speculating on the manner in which they had
been fabricated. "She may recover, after all," thought he to himself.
"She's as strong as a horse--I know her better than they do. I know
she'll recover, and then what shall I do? Stand to the offer Daly made
to Kelly, I suppose!" And then he sat down close to the table, with his
elbow on it, and his chin resting on his hand; and there he remained,
full of thought. To tell the truth, Barry Lynch had never thought more
intensely than he did during those ten minutes. At last he jumped up
suddenly, as though surprised at what had been passing within himself;
he looked hastily at the door and at the window, as though to see that
he had not been watched, and then went upstairs to dress himself,
preparatory to his visit to the inn.
XXIV. ANTY LYNCH'S BED-SIDE SCENE THE FIRST
Anty had borne her illness with that patience and endurance which were
so particularly inherent in her nature. She had never complained; and
had received the untiring attentions and care of her two young friends,
with a warmth of affection and gratitude which astonished them,
accustomed as they had been in every little illness to give and receive
that tender care with which sickness is treated in affectionate
families. When ill, they felt they had a right to be petulant, and to
complain; to exact, and to be attended to: they had been used to it
from each other, and thought it an incidental part of the business. But
Anty had hitherto had no one to nurse her, and she looked on Meg and
Jane as kind ministering angels, emulous as they were to relieve her
wants and ease her sufferings.
Her thin face had become thinner, and was very pale; her head had been
shaved close, and there was nothing between the broad white border of
her nightcap and her clammy brow and wan cheek. But illness was more
becoming to Anty than health; it gave her a melancholy and beautiful
expression of resignation, which, under ordinary circumstances, was
wanting to her features, though not to her character. Her eyes were
brighter than they usually were, and her complexion was clear,
colourless, and transparent. I do not mean to say that Anty in her
illness was beautiful, but she was no longer plain; and even to the
young Kellys, whose feelings and sympathies cannot be supposed to have
been of the highest order, she became an object of the most intense
interest, and the warmest affection.
"Well, doctor," she said, as Doctor Colligan crept into her room, after
the termination of his embassy to Barry; "will he come?"
"Oh, of course he will; why wouldn't he, and you wishing it? He'll be
here in an hour, Miss Lynch. He wasn't just ready to come over with
me."
"I'm glad of that," said Anty, who felt that she had to collect her
thoughts before she saw him; and then, after a moment, she added,
"Can't I take my medicine now, doctor?"
"Just before he comes you'd better have it, I think. One of the girls
will step up and give it you when he's below. He'll want to speak a
word or so to Mrs Kelly before he comes up."
"Spake to me, docthor!" said the widow, alarmed. "What'll he be spaking
to me about? Faix, I had spaking enough with him last time he was
here."
"You'd better just see him, Mrs Kelly," whispered the, doctor. "You'll
find him quiet enough, now; just take him fair and asy; keep him
downstairs a moment, while Jane gives her the medicine. She'd better
take it just before he goes to her, and don't let him stay long,
whatever you do. I'll be back before the evening's over; not that I
think that she'll want me to see her, but I'll just drop in."
"Are you going, doctor?" said Anty, as he stepped up to the bed. He
told her he was. "You've told Mrs Kelly, haven't you, that I'm to see
Barry alone?"
"Why, I didn't say so," said the doctor, looking at the widow; "but I
suppose there'll be no harm--eh, Mrs Kelly?"
"You must let me see him alone, dear Mrs Kelly!"
"If Doctor Colligan thinks you ought, Anty dear, I wouldn't stay in the
room myself for worlds."
"But you won't keep him here long, Miss Lynch--eh? And you won't excite
yourself?--indeed, you mustn't. You'll allow them fifteen minutes, Mrs
Kelly, not more, and then you'll come up;" and with these cautions, the
doctor withdrew.
"I wish he was come and gone," said the widow to her elder daughter.
"Well; av I'd known all what was to follow, I'd niver have got out of
my warm bed to go and fetch Anty Lynch down here that cowld morning!
Well, I'll be wise another time. Live and larn they say, and it's
thrue, too."
"But, mother, you ain't wishing poor Anty wasn't here?"
"Indeed, but I do; everything to give and nothin to get--that's not the
way I have managed to live. But it's not that altogether, neither. I'm
not begrudging Anty anything for herself; but that I'd be dhriven to
let that blagguard of a brother of hers into the house, and that as a
frind like, is what I didn't think I'd ever have put upon me!"
Barry made his appearance about an hour after the time at which they
had begun to expect him; and as soon as Meg saw him, one of them flew
upstairs, to tell Anty and give her her tonic. Barry had made himself
quite a dandy to do honour to the occasion of paying probably a parting
visit to his sister, whom he had driven out of her own house to die at
the inn. He had on his new blue frock-coat, and a buff waistcoat with
gilt buttons, over which his watch-chain was gracefully arranged. His
pantaloons were strapped clown very tightly over his polished boots; a
shining new silk hat was on one side of his head; and in his hand he
was dangling an ebony cane. In spite, however, of all these gaudy
trappings, he could not muster up an easy air; and, as he knocked, he
had that look proverbially attributed to dogs who are going to be hung.
Sally opened the door for him, and the widow, who had come out from the
shop, made him a low courtesy in the passage.
"Oh--ah--yes--Mrs Kelly, I believe?" said Barry.
"Yes, Mr Lynch, that's my name; glory be to God!"
"My sister, Miss Lynch, is still staying here, I believe?"
"Why, drat it, man; wasn't Dr Colligan with you less than an hour ago,
telling you you must come here, av you wanted to see her?"
"You'll oblige me by sending up the servant to tell Miss Lynch I'm
here."
"Walk up here a minute, and I'll do that errand for you myself.--Well,"
continued she, muttering to herself "for him to ax av she war staying
here, as though he didn't know it! There niver was his ditto for
desait, maneness and divilry!"
A minute or two after the widow had left him, Barry found himself by
his sister's bed-side, but never had he found himself in a position for
which he was less fitted, or which was less easy to him. He assumed,
however, a long and solemn face, and crawling up to the bed-side, told
his sister, in a whining voice, that he was very glad to see her.
"Sit down, Barry, sit down," said Anty, stretching out her thin pale
hand, and taking hold of her brother's.
Barry did as he was told, and sat down. "I'm so glad to see you,
Barry," said she: "I'm so very glad to see you once more--" and then
after a pause, "and it'll be the last time, Barry, for I'm dying."
Barry told her he didn't think she was, for he didn't know when he'd
seen her looking better.
"Yes, I am, Barry: Doctor Colligan has said as much; and I should know
it well enough myself, even if he'd never said a word. We're friends
now, are we not?--Everything's forgiven and forgotten, isn't it,
Barry?"
Anty had still hold of her brother's hand, and seemed desirous to keep
it. He sat on the edge of his chair, with his knees tucked in against
the bed, the very picture of discomfort, both of body and mind.
"Oh, of course it is, Anty," said he; "forgive and forget; that was
always my motto. I'm sure I never bore any malice--indeed I never was
so sorry as when you went away, and--"
"Ah, Barry," said Anty; "it was better I went then; may-be it's all
better as it is. When the priest has been with me and given me comfort,
I won't fear to die. But there are other things, Barry, I want to spake
to you about."
"If there's anything I can do, I'm sure I'd do it: if there's anything
at all you wish done.--Would you like to come up to the house again?"
"Oh no, Barry, not for worlds."
"Why, perhaps, just at present, you are too weak to move; only wouldn't
it be more comfortable for you to be in your own house? These people
here are all very well, I dare say, but they must be a great bother to
you, eh?--so interested, you know, in everything they do."
"Ah! Barry, you don't know them."
Barry remembered that he would be on the wrong tack to abuse the
Kellys. "I'm sure they're very nice people," said he; "indeed I always
thought so, and said so--but they're not like your own flesh and blood,
are they, Anty?--and why shouldn't you come up and be--"
"No, Barry," said she; "I'll not do that; as they're so very, very kind
as to let me stay here, I'll remain till--till God takes me to himself.
But they're not my flesh and blood"--and she turned round and looked
affectionately in the face of her brother--"there are only the two of
us left now; and soon, very soon you'll be all alone." Barry felt very
uncomfortable, and wished the interview was over: he tried to say
something, but failed, and Anty went on--"when that time comes, will
you remember what I say to you now?--When you're all alone, Barry; when
there's nothing left to trouble you or put you out--will you think then
of the last time you ever saw your sister, and--"
"Oh, Anty, sure I'll be seeing you again!"
"No, Barry, never again. This is the last time we shall ever meet, and
think how much we ought to be to each other! We've neither of us father
or mother, husband or wife.--When I'm gone you'll be alone: will you
think of me then--and will you remember, remember every day--what I say
to you now?"
"Indeed I will, Anty. I'll do anything, everything you'd have me. Is
there anything you'd wish me to give to any person?"
"Barry," she continued, "no good ever came of my father's will."--Barry
almost jumped off his chair as he heard his sister's words, so much did
they startle him; but he said nothing.--"The money has done me no good,
but the loss of it has blackened your heart, and turned your blood to
gall against me. Yes, Barry--yes--don't speak now, let me go on;--the
old man brought you up to look for it, and, alas, he taught you to
look for nothing else; it has not been your fault, and I'm not blaming
you--I'm not maning to blame you, my own brother, for you are my
own"--and she turned round in the bed and shed tears upon his hand, and
kissed it.--"But gold, and land, will never make you happy,--no, not
all the gold of England, nor all the land the old kings ever had could
make you happy, av the heart was bad within you. You'll have it all
now, Barry, or mostly all. You'll have what you think the old man
wronged you of; you'll have it with no one to provide for but yourself,
with no one to trouble you, no one to thwart you. But oh, Barry, av
it's in your heart that that can make you happy--there's nothing before
you but misery--and death--and hell." Barry shook like a child in the
clutches of its master--"Yes, Barry; misery and death, and all the
tortures of the damned. It's to save you from this, my own brother,
to try and turn your heart from that foul love of money, that your
sister is now speaking to you from her grave.--Oh, Barry! try and
cure it. Learn to give to others, and you'll enjoy what you have
yourself.--Learn to love others, and then you'll know what it is to be
loved yourself. Try, try to soften that hard heart. Marry at once,
Barry, at once, before you're older and worse to cure; and you'll have
children, and love them; and when you feel, as feel you must, that the
money is clinging round your soul, fling it from you, and think of the
last words your sister said to you."
The sweat was now running down the cheeks of the wretched man, for the
mixed rebuke and prayer of his sister had come home to him, and touched
him; but it was neither with pity, with remorse, nor penitence. No; in
that foul heart there was no room, even for remorse; but he trembled
with fear as he listened to her words, and, falling on his knees, swore
to her that he would do just as she would have him.
"If I could but think," continued she, "that you would remember what I
am saying--"
"Oh, I will, Anty: I will--indeed, indeed, I will!"
"If I could believe so, Barry--I'd die happy and in comfort, for I love
you better than anything on earth;" and again she pressed his hot red
hand--"but oh, brother! I feel for you:--you never kneel before the
altar of God--you've no priest to move the weight of sin from your
soul--and how heavy that must be! Do you remember, Barry; it's but
a week or two ago and you threatened to kill me for the sake of our
father's money? you wanted to put me in a mad-house; you tried to make
me mad with fear and cruelty; me, your sister; and I never harmed or
crossed you. God is now doing what you threatened; a kind, good God
is now taking me to himself, and you will get what you so longed for
without more sin on your conscience; but it'll never bless you, av
you've still the same wishes in your heart, the same love of gold--the
same hatred of a fellow-creature."
"Oh, Anty!" sobbed out Barry, who was now absolutely in tears, "I was
drunk that night; I was indeed, or I'd never have said or done what I
did."
"And how often are you so, Barry?--isn't it so with you every night?
That's another thing; for my sake, for your own sake--for God's sake,
give up the dhrink. It's killing you from day to day, and hour to hour.
I see it in your eyes, and smell it in your breath, and hear it in your
voice; it's that that makes your heart so black:--it's that that gives
you over, body and soul, to the devil. I would not have said a word
about that night to hurt you now; and, dear Barry, I wouldn't have said
such words as these to you at all, but that I shall never speak to
you again. And oh! I pray that you'll remember them. You're idle now,
always:--don't continue so; earn your money, and it will be a blessing
to you and to others. But in idleness, and drunkenness, and wickedness,
it will only lead you quicker to the devil."
Barry reiterated his promises; he would take the pledge; he would work
at the farm; he would marry and have a family; he would not care the
least for money; he would pay his debts; he would go to church, or
chapel, if Anty liked it better; at any rate, he'd say his prayers; he
would remember every word she had said to the last day of his life;
he promised everything or anything, as though his future existence
depended on his appeasing his dying sister. But during the whole time,
his chief wish, his longing desire, was to finish the interview, and
get out of that horrid room. He felt that he was mastered and cowed by
the creature whom he had so despised, and he could not account for the
feeling. Why did he not dare to answer her? She had told him he would
have her money: she had said it would come to him as a matter of
course; and it was not the dread of losing that which prevented his
saying a word in his own defence. No; she had really frightened him:
she had made him really feel that he was a low, wretched, wicked
creature, and he longed to escape from her, that he might recover his
composure.
"I have but little more to say to you, Barry," she continued, "and that
little is about the property. You will have it all, but a small sum of
money--"
Here Anty was interrupted by a knock at the door, and the entrance of
the widow. She came to say that the quarter of an hour allowed by the
doctor had been long exceeded, and that really Mr Barry ought to take
his leave, as so much talking would be bad for Anty.
This was quite a god-send for Barry, who was only anxious to be off;
but Anty begged for a respite.
"One five minutes longer, dear Mrs Kelly," said she, "and I shall have
done; only five minutes--I'm much stronger now, and really it won't
hurt me."
"Well, then--mind, only five minutes," said the widow, and again left
them alone.
"You don't know, Barry--you can never know how good that woman has been
to me; indeed all of them--and all for nothing. They've asked nothing
of me, and now that they know I'm dying, I'm sure they expect nothing
from me. She has enough; but I wish to leave something to Martin, and
the girls;" and a slight pale blush covered her wan cheeks and forehead
as she mentioned Martin's name. "I will leave him five hundred pounds,
and them the same between them. It will be nothing to you, Barry, out
of the whole; but see and pay it at once, will you?" and she looked
kindly into his face.
He promised vehemently that he would, and told her not to bother
herself about a will: they should have the money as certainly as if
twenty wills were made. To give Barry his due, at that moment, he meant
to be as good as his word. Anty, however, told him that she would make
a will; that she would send for a lawyer, and have the matter properly
settled.
"And now," she said, "dear Barry, may God Almighty bless you--may He
guide you and preserve you; and may He, above all, take from you that
horrid love of the world's gold and wealth. Good bye," and she raised
herself up in her bed--"good bye, for the last time, my own dear
brother; and try to remember what I've said to you this day. Kiss me
before you go, Barry."
Barry leaned over the bed, and kissed her, and then crept out of the
room, and down the stairs, with the tears streaming down his red
cheeks; and skulked across the street to his own house, with his hat
slouched over his face, and his handkerchief held across his mouth.
XXV. ANTY LYNCH'S BED-SIDE SCENE THE SECOND
Anty was a good deal exhausted by her interview with her brother, but
towards evening she rallied a little, and told Jane, who was sitting
with her, that she wanted to say one word in private, to Martin. Jane
was rather surprised, for though Martin was in the habit of going into
the room every morning to see the invalid, Anty had never before asked
for him. However, she went for Martin, and found him.
"Martin," said she; "Anty wants to see you alone, in private."
"Me?" said Martin, turning a little red. "Do you know what it's about?"
"She didn't say a word, only she wanted to see you alone; but I'm
thinking it's something about her brother; he was with her a long long
time this morning, and went away more like a dead man than a live one.
But come, don't keep her waiting; and, whatever you do, don't stay
long; every word she spakes is killing her."
Martin followed his sister into the sick-room, and, gently taking
Anty's offered hand, asked her in a whisper, what he could do for her.
Jane went out; and, to do her justice sat herself down at a distance
from the door, though she was in a painful state of curiosity as to
what was being said within.
"You're all too good to me, Martin," said Anty; "you'll spoil me,
between you, minding every word I say so quick."
Martin assured her again, in a whisper, that anything and everything
they could do for her was only a pleasure.
"Don't mind whispering," said Anty; "spake out; your voice won't hurt
me. I love to hear your voices, they're all so kind and good. But
Martin, I've business you must do for me, and that at once, for I feel
within me that I'll soon be gone from this."
"We hope not, Anty; but it's all with God now--isn't it? No one knows
that betther than yourself."
"Oh yes, I do know that; and I feel it is His pleasure that it should
be so, and I don't fear to die. A few weeks back the thoughts of death,
when they came upon me, nearly killed me; but that feeling's all gone
now."
Martin did not know what answer to make; he again told her he hoped she
would soon get better. It is a difficult task to talk properly to a
dying person about death, and Martin felt that he was quite incompetent
to do so.
"But," she continued, after a little, "there's still much that I want
to do,--that I ought to do. In the first place, I must make my will."
Martin was again puzzled. This was another subject on which he felt
himself equally unwilling to speak; he could not advise her not to make
one; and he certainly would not advise her to do so.
"Your will, Anty?--there's time enough for that; you'll be sthronger
you know, in a day or two. Doctor Colligan says so--and then we'll talk
about it."
"I hope there is time enough, Martin; but there isn't more than enough;
it's not much that I'll have to say--"
"Were you spaking to Barry about it this morning?"
"Oh, I was. I told him what I'd do: he'll have the property now,
mostly all as one as av the ould man had left it to him. It would
have been betther so, eh Martin?" Anty never doubted her lover's
disinterestedness; at this moment she suspected him of no dirty longing
after her money, and she did him only justice. When he came into her
room he had no thoughts of inheriting anything from her. Had he been
sure that by asking he could have induced her to make a will in his
favour, he would not have done so. But still his heart sunk a little
within him when he heard her declare that she was going to leave
everything back to her brother. It was, however, only for a moment; he
remembered his honest determination firmly and resolutely to protect
their joint property against any of her brother's attempts, should he
ever marry her; but in no degree to strive or even hanker after it,
unless it became his own in a fair, straightforward manner.
"Well, Anty; I think you're right," said he. "But wouldn't it all go to
Barry, nathurally, without your bothering yourself about a will, and
you so wake."
"In course it would, at laist I suppose so; but Martin," and she smiled
faintly as she looked up into his face, "I want the two dear, dear
girls, and I want yourself to have some little thing to remember me by;
and your dear kind mother,--she doesn't want money, but if I ask her to
take a few of the silver things in the house, I'm sure she'll keep them
for my sake. Oh, Martin! I do love you all so very--so very much!" and
the warm tears streamed down her cheeks.
Martin's eyes were affected, too: he made a desperate struggle to
repress the weakness, but he could not succeed, and was obliged to own
it by rubbing his eyes with the sleeve of his coat. "And I'm shure,
Anty," said he, "we all love you; any one must love you who knew you."
And then he paused: he was trying to say something of his own true
personal regard for her, but he hardly knew how to express it. "We all
love you as though you were one of ourselves--and so you are--it's all
the same--at any rate it is to me."
"And I would have been one of you, had I lived. I can talk to you more
about it now, Martin, than I ever could before, because I know I feel I
am dying."
"But you mustn't talk, Anty; it wakens you, and you've had too much
talking already this day."
"It does me good, Martin, and I must say what I have to say to you. I
mayn't be able again. Had it plazed God I should have lived, I would
have prayed for nothing higher or betther than to be one of such a
family as yourselves. Had I been--had I been"--and now Anty blushed
again, and she also found a difficulty in expressing herself; but she
soon got over it, and continued, "had I been permitted to marry you,
Martin, I think I would have been a good wife to you. I am very, very
sure I would have been an affectionate one."
"I'm shure you would--I'm shure you would, Anty. God send you may
still: av you war only once well again there's nothing now to hindher
us."
"You forget Barry," Anty said, with a shudder. "But it doesn't matther
talking of that now"--Martin was on the point of telling her that Barry
had agreed, under certain conditions, to their marriage: but, on second
thoughts, he felt it would be useless to do so; and Anty continued,
"I would have done all I could, Martin. I would have loved you fondly
and truly. I would have liked what you liked, and, av I could, I
would've made your home quiet and happy. Your mother should have been
my mother, and your sisthers my sisthers."
"So they are now, Anty--so they are now, my own, own Anty--they love
you as much as though they were."
"God Almighty bless them for their goodness, and you too, Martin. I
cannot tell you, I niver could tell you, how I've valued your honest
thrue love, for I know you have loved me honestly and thruly; but I've
always been afraid to spake to you. I've sometimes thought you must
despise me, I've been so wake and cowardly."
"Despise you, Anty?--how could I despise you, when I've always loved
you?"
"But now, Martin, about poor Barry--for he is poor. I've sometimes
thought, as I've been lying here the long long hours awake, that,
feeling to you as I do, I ought to be laving you what the ould man left
to me."
"I'd be sorry you did, Anty. I'll not be saying but what I thought of
that when I first looked for you, but it was never to take it from you,
but to share it with you, and make you happy with it."
"I know it, Martin: I always knew it and felt it."
"And now, av it's God's will that you should go from us, I'd rather
Barry had the money than us. We've enough, the Lord be praised; and I
wouldn't for worlds it should be said that it war for that we brought
you among us; nor for all County Galway would I lave it to Barry to
say, that when you were here, sick, and wake, and dying, we put a pen
into your hand to make you sign a will to rob him of what should by
rights be his."
"That's it, dear Martin; it wouldn't bless you if you had it; it can
bless no one who looks to it alone for a blessing. It wouldn't make you
happy--it would make you miserable, av people said you had that which
you ought not to have. Besides, I love my poor brother; he is my
brother, my only real relation; we've lived all our lives together;
and though he isn't what he should be, the fault is not all his own, I
should not sleep in my grave, av I died with his curse upon me; as I
should, av he found, when I am gone, that I'd willed the property all
away. I've told him he'd have it all--nearly all; and I've begged him,
prayed to him, from my dying bed, to mend his ways; to try and be
something betther in the world than what I fear he's like to be. I
think he minded what I said when he was here, for death-bed words have
a solemn sound to the most worldly; but when I'm gone he'll be all
alone, there'll be no one to look afther him. Nobody loves him--no one
even likes him; no one will live with him but those who mane to rob
him; and he will be robbed, and plundered, and desaved, when he thinks
he's robbing and desaving others." Anty paused, more for breath than
for a reply, but Martin felt that he must say something.
"Indeed, Anty, I fear he'll hardly come to good. He dhrinks too much,
by all accounts; besides, he's idle, and the honest feeling isn't in
him."
"It's thrue, dear Martin; it's too thrue. Will you do me a great great
favour, Martin"--and she rose up a little and turned her moist clear
eye full upon him--"will you show your thrue love to your poor Anty,
by a rale lasting kindness, but one that'll be giving you much much
throuble and pain? Afther I'm dead and gone--long long after I'm in my
cold grave, will you do that for me, Martin?".
"Indeed I will, Anty," said Martin, rather astonished, but with a look
of solemn assurance; "anything that I can do, I will: you needn't dread
my not remembering, but I fear it isn't much that I can do for you."
"Will you always think and spake of Barry--will you always act to him
and by him, and for him, not as a man whom you know and dislike, but as
my brother--your own Anty's only brother?--Whatever he does, will you
thry to make him do betther? Whatever troubles he's in, will you lend
him your hand? Come what come may to him, will you be his frind? He has
no frind now. When I'm gone, will you be a frind to him?"
Martin was much confounded. "He won't let me be his frind," he said;
"he looks down on us and despises us; he thinks himself too high to be
befrinded by us. Besides, of all Dunmore he hates us most."
"He won't when he finds you haven't got the property from him: but
frindship doesn't depend on letting--rale frindship doesn't. I don't
want you to be dhrinking, and ating, and going about with him. God
forbid!--you're too good for that. But when you find he wants a frind,
come forward, and thry and make him do something for himself. You can't
but come together; you'll be the executhor in the will; won't you,
Martin? and then he'll meet you about the property; he can't help it,
and you must meet then as frinds. And keep that up. If he insults you,
forgive it or my sake; if he's fractious and annoying, put up with it
for my sake; for my sake thry to make him like you, and thry to make
others like him." Martin felt that this would be impossible, but he
didn't say so--"No one respects him now, but all respect you. I see it
in people's eyes and manners, without hearing what they say. Av you
spake well of him--at any rate kindly of him, people won't turn
themselves so against him. Will you do all this, for my sake?"
Martin solemnly promised that, as far as he could, he would do so;
that, at any rate as far as himself was concerned, he would never
quarrel with him.
"You'll have very, very much to forgive," continued Anty; "but then
it's so sweet to forgive; and he's had no fond mother like you; he has
not been taught any duties, any virtues, as you have. He has only been
taught that money is the thing to love, and that he should worship
nothing but that. Martin, for my sake, will you look on him as a
brother?--a wicked, bad, castaway brother; but still as a brother, to
be forgiven, and, if possible, redeemed?"
"As I hope for glory in Heaven, I will," said Martin; "but I think
he'll go far from this; I think he'll quit Dunmore."
"Maybe he will; perhaps it's betther he should; but he'll lave his name
behind him. Don't be too hard on that, and don't let others; and even
av he does go, it'll not be long before he'll want a frind, and I don't
know anywhere he can go that he's likely to find one. Wherever he may
go, or whatever he may do, you won't forget he was my brother; will
you, Martin? You won't forget he was your own Anty's only brother."
Martin again gave her his solemn word that he would, to the best of his
ability, act as a friend and brother to Barry.
"And now about the will." Martin again endeavoured to dissuade her from
thinking about a will just at present.
"Ah! but my heart's set upon it," she said; "I shouldn't be happy
unless I did it, and I'm sure you don't want to make me unhappy, now.
You must get me some lawyer here, Martin; I'm afraid you're not lawyer
enough for that yourself."
"Indeed I'm not, Anty; it's a trade I know little about."
"Well; you must get me a lawyer; not to-morrow, for I know I shan't be
well enough; but I hope I shall next day, and you may tell him just
what to put in it. I've no secrets from you." And she told him exactly
what she had before told her brother. "That'll not hurt him," she
continued; "and I'd like to think you and the dear girls should accept
something from me."
Martin then agreed to go to Daly. He was on good terms with them all
now, since making the last offer to them respecting the property;
besides, as Martin said, "he knew no other lawyer, and, as the will was
so decidedly in Barry's favour, who was so proper to make it as Barry's
own lawyer?"
"Good-bye now, Martin," said Anty; "we shall be desperately scolded for
talking so long; but it was on my mind to say it all, and I'm betther
now it's all over."
"Good night, dear Anty," said Martin, "I'll be seeing you to-morrow."
"Every day, I hope, Martin, till it's all over. God bless you, God
bless you all--and you above all. You don't know, Martin--at laist
you didn't know all along, how well, how thruly I've loved you. Good
night," and Martin left the room, as Barry had done, in tears. But he
had no feeling within him of which he had cause to be ashamed. He was
ashamed, and tried to hide his face, for he was not accustomed to be
seen with the tears running down his cheeks; but still he had within
him a strong sensation of gratified pride, as he reflected that he was
the object of the warmest affection to so sweet a creature as Anty
Lynch.
"Well, Martin--what was it she wanted?" said his mother, as she met him
at the bottom of the stairs.
"I couldn't tell you now, mother," said he; "but av there was iver an
angel on 'arth, it's Anty Lynch." And saying so, he pushed open the
door and escaped into the street.
"I wondher what she's been about now?" said the widow, speculating to
herself--"well, av she does lave it away from Barry, who can say but
what she has a right to do as she likes with her own?--and who's done
the most for her, I'd like to know?"--and pleasant prospects of her
son's enjoying an independence flitted before her mind's eye. "But
thin," she continued, talking to herself, "I wouldn't have it said in
Dunmore that a Kelly demaned hisself to rob a Lynch, not for twice
all Sim Lynch ever had. Well--we'll see; but no good 'll ever come of
meddling with them people. Jane, Jane," she called out, at the top of
her voice, "are you niver coming down, and letting me out of this?--bad
manners to you."
Jane answered, in the same voice, from the parlour upstairs, "Shure,
mother, ain't I getting Anty her tay?"
"Drat Anty and her tay!--Well, shure, I'm railly bothered now wid them
Lynches!--Well, glory be to God, there's an end to everything--not that
I'm wishing her anywhere but where she is; she's welcome, for Mary
Kelly."
XXVI. LOVE'S AMBASSADOR
Two days after the hunt in which poor Goneaway was killed by Barry's
horse, Ballindine received the following letter from his friend Dot
Blake.
Limmer's Hotel, 27th March, 1844.
Dear Frank,
I and Brien, and Bottom, crossed over last Friday night, and, thanks
to the God of storms, were allowed to get quietly through it. The
young chieftain didn't like being boxed on the quay a bit too well;
the rattling of the chains upset him, and the fellows there are
so infernally noisy and awkward, that I wonder he was ever got on
board. It's difficult to make an Irishman handy, but it's the very
devil to make him quiet. There were four at his head, and three at
his tail, two at the wheel, turning, and one up aloft, hallooing
like a demon in the air; and when Master Brien showed a little
aversion to this comic performance, they were going to drag him into
the box _bon gré, mal gré_, till Bottom interposed and saved the men
and the horse from destroying each other.
We got safe to Middleham on Saturday night, the greatest part of the
way by rail. Scott has a splendid string of horses. These English
fellows do their work in tiptop style, only they think more of
spending money than they do of making it. I waited to see him out on
Monday, when he'd got a trot, and he was as bright as though he'd
never left the Curragh. Scott says he's a little too fine; but you
know of course he must find some fault. To give Igoe his due, he
could not be in better condition, and Scott was obliged to own that,
_considering where he came from_, he was very well. I came on here
on Tuesday, and have taken thirteen wherever I could get it, and
thought the money safe. I have got a good deal on, and won't budge
till I do it at six to one; and I'm sure I'll bring him to that. I
think he'll rise quickly, as he wants so little training, and as his
qualities must be at once known now he's in Scott's stables; so if
you mean to put any more on you had better do it at once.
So much for the stables. I left the other two at home, but have one
of my own string here, as maybe I'll pick up a match: and now I
wish to let you know a report that I heard this morning--at least
a secret, which bids fair to become a report. It is said that
Kilcullen is to marry F---- W----, and that he has already paid
Heaven only knows how many thousand pounds of debt with her money;
that the old earl has arranged it all, and that the beautiful
heiress has reluctantly agreed to be made a viscountess. I'm very
far from saying that I believe this; but it may suit you to know
that I heard the arrangement mentioned before two other persons, one
of whom was Morris;--strange enough this, as he was one of the set
at Handicap Lodge when you told them that the match with yourself
was still on. I have no doubt the plan would suit father and son;
you best know how far the lady may have been likely to accede. At
any rate, my dear Frank, if you'll take my advice, you'll not sit
quiet till she does marry some one. You can't expect she'll wear the
willow for you very long, if you do nothing yourself. Write to her
by post, and write to the earl by the same post, saying you have
done so. Tell her in the sweetest way you can, that you cannot live
without seeing her, and getting your _congé_ [39], if _congé_ it is
to be, from her own dear lips; and tell him, in as few words, as you
please, that you mean to do yourself the honour of knocking at his
door on such and such a day--and do it.
[FOOTNOTE 39: congé--(French) dismissal, notice to quit]
By the bye, Kilcullen certainly returns to Ireland immediately.
There's been the devil's own smash among him and the Jews. He has
certainly been dividing money among them; but not near enough, by
all accounts, to satisfy the half of them. For the sake of your
reputation, if not of your pocket, don't let him walk off with the
hundred and thirty thousand pounds. They say it's not a penny less.
Very faithfully yours,
W. BLAKE.
Shall I do anything for you here about Brien? I think I might still
get you eleven to one, but let me hear at once.
As Frank read the first portion of this epistle, his affection for his
poor dear favourite nag returned in full force, and he felt all the
pangs of remorse for having parted with him; but when he came to the
latter part, to Lord Kilcullen's name, and the initials by which his
own Fanny was designated, he forgot all about horse and owner; became
totally regardless of thirteen, eleven, and six to one, and read on
hastily to the end; read it all again--then closed the letter, and
put it in his pocket, and remained for a considerable time in silent
contemplation, trying to make up his mind what he would do.
Nobody was with him as he opened his post-bag, which he took from the
messenger as the boy was coming up to the house; he therefore read his
letter alone, on the lawn, and he continued pacing up and down before
the house with a most perturbed air, for half an hour.
Kilcullen going to marry Fanny Wyndham! So, that was the cause of Lord
Cashel's singular behaviour--his incivility, and refusal to allow Frank
to see his ward. "What! to have arranged it all in twenty-four hours,"
thought Frank to himself; "to have made over his ward's money to his
son, before her brother, from whom she inherited it, was in his grave:
to determine at once to reject an accepted suitor for the sake of
closing on the poor girl's money--and without the slightest regard for
her happiness, without a thought for her welfare! And then, such lies,"
said the viscount, aloud, striking his heel into the grass in his angry
impetuosity; "such base, cruel lies!--to say that she had authorised
him, when he couldn't have dared to make such a proposal to her, and
her brother but two days dead. Well; I took him for a stiff-necked
pompous fool, but I never thought him such an avaricious knave." And
Fanny, too--could Fanny have agreed, so soon, to give her hand to
another? She could not have transferred her heart. His own dear, fond
Fanny! A short time ago they had been all in all to each other; and now
so completely estranged as they were! However, Dot was right; up to
this time Fanny might be quite true to him; indeed, there was not
ground even for doubting her, for it was evident that no reliance was
to be placed in Lord Cashel's asseverations. But still he could not
expect that she should continue to consider herself engaged, if she
remained totally neglected by her lover. He must do something, and that
at once; but there was very great difficulty in deciding what that
something was to be. It was easy enough for Dot to say, first write,
and then go. If he were to write, what security was there that his
letter would be allowed to reach Fanny? and, if he went, how much less
chance was there that he would be allowed to see her. And then, again
to be turned out of the house! again informed, by that pompous scheming
earl, that his visits there were not desired. Or, worse still, not to
be admitted; to be driven from the door by a footman who would well
know for what he came! No; come what come might, he would never again
go to Grey Abbey; at least not unless he was specially and courteously
invited thither by the owner; and then it should only be to marry his
ward, and take her from the odious place, never to return again.
"The impudent impostor!" continued Frank to himself; "to pretend to
suspect me, when he was himself hatching his dirty, mercenary,
heartless schemes!"
But still the same question recurred,--what was to be done? Venting his
wrath on Lord Cashel would not get him out of the difficulty: going
was out of the question; writing was of little use. Could he not send
somebody else? Some one who could not be refused admittance to Fanny,
and who might at any rate learn what her wishes and feelings were? He
did not like making love by deputy; but still, in his present dilemma,
he could think of nothing better. But whom was he to send? Bingham
Blake was a man of character, and would not make a fool of himself; but
he was too young; he would not be able to make his way to Fanny. No--a
young unmarried man would not do.--Mat Tierney?--he was afraid of
no one, and always cool and collected; but then, Mat was in London;
besides, he was a sort of friend of Kilcullen's. General Bourke?
No one could refuse an _entrée_ to his venerable grey hairs, and
polished manner; besides, his standing in the world was so good, so
unexceptionable; but then the chances were he would not go on such
an errand; he was too old to be asked to take such a troublesome
service; and besides, if asked, it was very probable he would say
that he considered Lord Cashel entitled to his ward's obedience. The
rector--the Rev. Joseph Armstrong? He must be the man: there was, at
any rate, respectability in his profession; and he had sufficient
worldly tact not easily to be thrust aside from his object: the
difficulty would be, whether he had a coat sufficiently decent to
appear in at Grey Abbey.
After mature consideration he made up his mind that the parson should
be his ambassador. He would sooner have confided in Bingham Blake, but
an unmarried man would not do. No; the parson must be the man. Frank
was, unfortunately, but little disposed to act in any case without
advice, and in his anxiety to consult some one as to consulting the
parson, returned into the house, to make a clear breast of it to his
mother. He found her in the breakfast-room with the two girls, and the
three were holding council deep.
"Oh, here's Frank," said Sophy; "we'd better tell him all about it at
once--and he'll tell us which she'd like best."
"We didn't mean to tell you," said Guss; "but I and Sophy are going to
work two sofas for the drawing-room--in Berlin wool, you know: they'll
be very handsome--everybody has them now, you know; they have a
splendid pair at Ballyhaunis which Nora and her cousin worked."
"But we want to know what pattern would suit Fanny's taste," said
Sophy.
"Well; you can't know that," said Frank rather pettishly, "so you'd
better please yourselves."
"Oh, but you must know what she likes," continued Guss; "I'm for this,"
and she, displayed a pattern showing forth two gorgeous macaws--each
with plumage of the brightest colours. "The colours are so bright, and
the feathers will work in so well."
"I don't like anything in worsted-work but flowers," said Sophy; "Nora
Dillon says she saw two most beautiful wreaths at that shop in Grafton
Street, both hanging from bars, you know; and that would be so much
prettier. I'm sure Fanny would like flowers best; wouldn't she now,
Frank?--Mamma thinks the common cross-bar patterns are nicer for
furniture."
"Indeed I do, my dear," said Mrs O'Kelly; "and you see them much more
common now in well-furnished drawing-rooms. But still I'd much sooner
have them just what Fanny would like best. Surely, Frank, you must have
heard her speak about worsted-work?"
All this completely disconcerted Frank, and made him very much out of
love with his own plan of consulting his mother. He gave the trio some
not very encouraging answer as to their good-natured intentions towards
his drawing-room, and again left them alone. "Well; there's nothing for
it but to send the parson; I don't think he'll make a fool of himself,
but then I know he'll look so shabby. However, here goes," and he
mounted his nag, and rode off to Ballindine glebe.
The glebe-house was about a couple of miles from Kelly's Court, and it
was about half-past four when Lord Ballindine got there. He knocked at
the door, which was wide open, though it was yet only the last day of
March, and was told by a remarkably slatternly maid-servant, that her
master was "jist afther dinner;" that he was stepped out, but was about
the place, and could be "fetched in at oncet;"--and would his honour
walk in? And so Lord Ballindine was shown into the rectory drawing-room
on one side of the passage (alias hall), while the attendant of all
work went to announce his arrival in the rectory dining-room on the
other side. Here Mrs Armstrong was sitting among her numerous progeny,
securing the _débris_ of the dinner from their rapacious paws, and
endeavouring to make two very unruly boys consume the portions of fat
which had been supplied to them with, as they loudly declared, an
unfairly insufficient quantum of lean. As the girl was good-natured
enough to leave both doors wide open, Frank had the full advantage of
the conversation.
"Now, Greg," said the mother, "if you leave your meat that way I'll
have it put by for you, and you shall have nothing but potatoes till
it's ate."
"Why, mother, it's nothing but tallow; look here; you gave me all the
outside part."
"I'll tell your dada, and see what he'll say, if you call the meat
tallow; and you're just as bad, Joe; worse if anything--gracious me,
here's waste! well, I'll lock it up for you, and you shall both of you
eat it to-morrow, before you have a bit of anything else."
Then followed a desperate fit of coughing.
"My poor Minny!" said the mother, "you're just as bad as ever. Why
would you go out on the wet grass?--Is there none of the black currant
jam left?"
"No, mother," coughed Minny, "not a bit."
"Greg ate it all," peached Sarah, an elder sister; "I told him not, but
he would."
"Greg, I'll have you flogged, and you never shall come from school
again. What's that you're saying, Mary?"
"There's a jintleman in the drawing-room as is axing afther masther."
"Gentleman--what gentleman?" asked the lady.
"Sorrow a know I know, ma'am!" said Mary, who was a new
importation--"only, he's a dark, sightly jintleman, as come on a
horse."
"And did you send for the master?"
"I did, ma'am; I was out in the yard, and bad Patsy go look for him."
"It's Nicholas Dillon, I'll bet twopence," said Greg, jumping up to
rush into the other room: "he's come about the black colt, I know."
"Stay where you are, Greg; and don't go in there with your dirty face
and fingers;" and, after speculating a little longer, the lady went
into the drawing-room herself; though, to tell the truth, her own face
and fingers were hardly in a state suitable for receiving company.
Mrs Armstrong marched into the drawing-room with something of a stately
air, to meet the strange gentleman, and there she found her old friend
Lord Ballindine. Whoever called at the rectory, and at whatever hour
the visit might be made, poor Mrs Armstrong was sure to apologise for
the confusion in which she was found. She had always just got rid of a
servant, and could not get another that suited her; or there was some
other commonplace reason for her being discovered _en déshabille_
[40]. However, she managed to talk to Frank for a minute or two with
tolerable volubility, till her eyes happening to dwell on her own
hands, which were certainly not as white as a lady's should be, she
became a little uncomfortable and embarrassed--tried to hide them in
her drapery--then remembered that she had on her morning slippers,
which were rather the worse for wear; and, feeling too much ashamed of
her _tout ensemble_ to remain, hurried out of the room, saying that she
would go and see where Armstrong could possibly have got himself to.
She did not appear again to Lord Ballindine.
[FOOTNOTE 40: en déshabille--(French) partly or scantily dressed]
Poor Mrs Armstrong!--though she looked so little like one, she had
been brought up as a lady, carefully and delicately; and her lot was
the more miserable, for she knew how lamentable were her present
deficiencies. When she married a poor curate, having, herself, only
a few hundred pounds' fortune, she had made up her mind to a life of
comparative poverty; but she had meant even in her poverty to be
decent, respectable, and lady-like. Weak health, nine children, an
improvident husband, and an income so lamentably ill-suited to her
wants, had however been too much for her, and she had degenerated into
a slatternly, idle scold.
In a short time the parson came in from his farm, rusty and
muddy--rusty, from his clerical dress; muddy from his farming
occupations; and Lord Ballindine went into the business of his embassy.
He remembered, however, how plainly he had heard the threats about the
uneaten fat, and not wishing the household to hear all he had to say
respecting Fanny Wyndham, he took the parson out into the road before
the house, and, walking up and down, unfolded his proposal.
Mr Armstrong expressed extreme surprise at the nature of the mission on
which he was to be sent; secondly at the necessity of such a mission at
all; and thirdly, lastly, and chiefly, at the enormous amount of the
heiress's fortune, to lose which he declared would be an unpardonable
sin on Lord Ballindine's part. He seemed to be not at all surprised
that Lord Cashel should wish to secure so much money in his own family;
nor did he at all participate in the unmeasured reprobation with which
Frank loaded the worthy earl's name. One hundred and thirty thousand
pounds would justify anything, and he thought of his nine poor
children, his poor wife, his poor home, his poor two hundred a-year,
and his poor self. He calculated that so very rich a lady would most
probably have some interest in the Church, which she could not but
exercise in his favour, if he were instrumental in getting her married;
and he determined to go. Then the, difficult question as to the
wardrobe occurred to him. Besides, he had no money for the road. Those,
however, were minor evils to be got over, and he expressed himself
willing to undertake the embassy.
"But, my dear Ballindine; what is it I'm to do?" said he. "Of course
you know, I'd do anything for you, as of course I ought--anything that
ought to be done; but what is it exactly you wish me to say?"
"You see, Armstrong, that pettifogging schemer told me he didn't wish
me to come to his house again, and I wouldn't, even for Fanny Wyndham,
force myself into any man's house. He would not let me see her when I
was there, and I could not press it, because her brother was only just
dead; so I'm obliged to take her refusal second hand. Now I don't
believe she ever sent the message he gave me. I think he has made her
believe that I'm deserting and ill-treating her; and in this way she
may be piqued and tormented into marrying Kilcullen."
"I see it now: upon my word then Lord Cashel knows how to play his
cards! But if I go to Grey Abbey I can't see her without seeing him."
"Of course not--but I'm coming to that. You see, I have no reason
to doubt Fanny's love; she has assured me of it a thousand times. I
wouldn't say so to you even, as it looks like boasting, only it's so
necessary you should know how the land lies; besides, everybody knew
it; all the world knew we were engaged."
"Oh, boasting--it's no boasting at all: it would be very little good my
going to Grey Abbey, if she had not told you so."
"Well, I think that if you were to see Lord Cashel and tell him, in
your own quiet way, who you are; that you are rector of Ballindine,
and my especial friend; and that you had come all the way from County
Mayo especially to see Miss Wyndham, that you might hear from herself
whatever message she had to send to me--if you were to do this, I don't
think he would dare to prevent you from seeing her."
"If he did, of course I would put it to him that you, who were so long
received as Miss Wyndham's accepted swain, were at least entitled to so
much consideration at her hands; and that I must demand so much on your
behalf, wouldn't that be it, eh?"
"Exactly. I see you understand it, as if you'd been at it all your
life; only don't call me her swain."
"Well, I'll think of another word--her beau."
"For Heaven's sake, no!--that's ten times worse."
"Well, her lover?"
"That's at any rate English: but say, her accepted husband--that'll be
true and plain: if you do that I think you will manage to see her, and
then--"
"Well, then--for that'll be the difficult part."
"Oh, when you see her, one simple word will do: Fanny Wyndham loves
plain dealing. Merely tell her that Lord Ballindine has not changed his
mind; and that he wishes to know from herself, by the mouth of a friend
whom he can trust, whether she has changed hers. If she tells you that
she has, I would not follow her farther though she were twice as rich
as Croesus. I'm not hunting her for her money; but I am determined that
Lord Cashel shall not make us both miserable by forcing her into a
marriage with his _roué_ of a son."
"Well, Ballindine, I'll go; but mind, you must not blame me if I fail.
I'll do the best I can for you."
"Of course I won't. When will you be able to start?"
"Why, I suppose there's no immediate hurry?" said the parson,
remembering that the new suit of clothes must be procured.
"Oh, but there is. Kilcullen will be there at once; and considering how
long it is since I saw Fanny--three months, I believe--no time should
be lost."
"How long is her brother dead?"
"Oh, a month--or very near it."
"Well, I'll go Monday fortnight; that'll do, won't it?"
It was at last agreed that the parson was to start for Grey Abbey on
the Monday week following; that he was to mention to no one where he
was going; that he was to tell his wife that he was going on business
he was not allowed to talk about;--she would be a very meek woman if
she rested satisfied with that!--and that he was to present himself at
Grey Abbey on the following Wednesday.
"And now," said the parson, with some little hesitation, "my difficulty
commences. We country rectors are never rich; but when we've nine
children, Ballindine, it's rare to find us with money in our pockets.
You must advance me a little cash for the emergencies of the road."
"My dear fellow! Of course the expense must be my own. I'll send you
down a note between this and then; I haven't enough about me now. Or,
stay--I'll give you a cheque," and he turned into the house, and wrote
him a cheque for twenty pounds.
That'll get the coat into the bargain, thought the rector, as he
rather uncomfortably shuffled the bit of paper into his pocket. He had
still a gentleman's dislike to be paid for his services. But then,
Necessity--how stern she is! He literally could not have gone without
it.
XXVII. MR LYNCH'S LAST RESOURCE
On the following morning Lord Ballindine as he had appointed to do,
drove over to Dunmore, to settle with Martin about the money, and, if
necessary, to go with him to the attorney's office in Tuam. Martin had
as yet given Daly no answer respecting Barry Lynch's last proposal;
and though poor Anty's health made it hardly necessary that any answer
should be given, still Lord Ballindine had promised to see the
attorney, if Martin thought it necessary.
The family were all in great confusion that morning, for Anty was very
bad--worse than she had ever been. She was in a paroxysm of fever, was
raving in delirium, and in such a state that Martin and his sister were
occasionally obliged to hold her in bed. Sally, the old servant, had
been in the room for a considerable time during the morning, standing
at the foot of the bed with a big tea-pot in her hand, and begging in a
whining voice, from time to time, that "Miss Anty, God bless her, might
get a dhrink of tay!" But, as she had been of no other service, and as
the widow thought it as well that she should not hear what Anty said
in her raving, she had been desired to go down-stairs, and was sitting
over the fire. She had fixed the big tea-pot among the embers, and held
a slop-bowl of tea in her lap, discoursing to Nelly, who with her hair
somewhat more than ordinarily dishevelled, in token of grief for Anty's
illness, was seated on a low stool, nursing a candle-stick.
"Well, Nelly," said the prophetic Sally, boding evil in her anger--for,
considering how long she had been in the family, she had thought
herself entitled to hear Anty's ravings; "mind, I tell you, good won't
come of this. The Virgin prothect us from all harum!--it niver war
lucky to have sthrangers dying in the house."
"But shure Miss Anty's no stranger."
"Faix thin, her words must be sthrange enough when the likes o' me
wouldn't be let hear 'em. Not but what I did hear, as how could I help
it? There'll be no good come of it. Who's to be axed to the wake, I'd
like to know."
"Axed to the wake, is it? Why, shure, won't there be rashions of ating
and lashings of dhrinking? The misthress isn't the woman to spare, and
sich a frind as Miss Anty dead in the house. Let 'em ax whom they
like."
"You're a fool, Nelly--Ax whom they like!--that's asy said. Is they to
ax Barry Lynch, or is they to let it alone, and put the sisther into
the sod without a word said to him about it? God be betwixt us and all
evil"--and she took a long pull at the slop-bowl; and, as the liquid
flowed down her throat, she gradually threw back her head till the top
of her mop cap was flattened against the side of the wide fire-place,
and the bowl was turned bottom upwards, so that the half-melted brown
sugar might trickle into her mouth. She then gave a long sigh, and
repeated that difficult question--"Who is they to ax to the wake?"
It was too much for Nelly to answer: she re-echoed the sigh, and more
closely embraced the candlestick.
"Besides, Nelly, who'll have the money when she's gone?--and she's nigh
that already, the Blessed Virgin guide and prothect her. Who'll get all
her money?"
"Why; won't Mr Martin? Sure, an't they as good as man and wife--all as
one?"
"That's it; they'll be fighting and tearing, and tatthering about that
money, the two young men will, you'll see. There'll be lawyering, an'
magisthrate's work--an' factions--an' fighthins at fairs; an' thin, as
in course the Lynches can't hould their own agin the Kellys, there'll
be undherhand blows, an' blood, an' murdher!--you'll see else."
"Glory be to God," involuntarily prayed Nelly, at the thoughts
suggested by Sally's powerful eloquence.
"There will, I tell ye," continued Sally, again draining the tea-pot
into the bowl. "Sorrow a lie I'm telling you;" and then, in a low
whisper across the fire, "didn't I see jist now Miss Anty ketch a hould
of Misther Martin, as though she'd niver let him go agin, and bid him
for dear mercy's sake have a care of Barry Lynch?--Shure I knowed what
that meant. And thin, didn't he thry and do for herself with his own
hands? Didn't Biddy say she'd swear she heard him say he'd do it?--and
av he wouldn't boggle about his own sisther, it's little he'd mind what
he'd do to an out an out inemy like Misther Martin."
"Warn't that a knock at the hall-door, Sally?"
"Run and see, girl; may-be it's the docthor back again; only mostly he
don't mind knocking much."
Nelly went to the door, and opened it to Lord Ballindine, who had left
his gig in charge of his servant. He asked for Martin, who in a short
time, joined him in the parlour.
"This is a dangerous place for your lordship, now," said he: "the fever
is so bad in the house. Thank God, nobody seems to have taken it yet,
but there's no knowing."
"Is she still so bad, Martin?"
"Worse than iver, a dale worse; I don't think It'll last long, now:
another bout such as this last 'll about finish it. But I won't keep
your lordship. I've managed about the money;"--and the necessary
writing was gone through, and the cash was handed to Lord Ballindine.
"You've given over all thoughts then, about Lynch's offer--eh,
Martin?--I suppose you've done with all that, now?"
"Quite done with it, my lord; and done with fortune-hunting too. I've
seen enough this last time back to cure me altogether--at laist, I hope
so."
"She doesn't mean to make any will, then?"
"Why, she wishes to make one, but I doubt whether she'll ever be able;"
and then Martin gave his landlord an account of all that Anty had said
about her will, her wishes as to the property, her desire to leave
something to him (Martin) and his sisters: and last he repeated the
strong injunctions which Anty had given him respecting her poor
brother, and her assurance, so full of affection, that had she lived
she would have done her best to make him happy as her husband.
Lord Ballindine was greatly affected; he warmly shook hands with
Martin, told him how highly he thought of his conduct, and begged him
to take care that Anty had the gratification of making her will as she
had desired to do. "The fact," Lord Ballindine said, "of your being
named in the will as her executor will give you more control over Barry
than anything else could do." He then proposed at once to go, himself,
to Tuam, and explain to Daly what it was Miss Lynch wished him to do.
This Lord Ballindine did, and the next day the will was completed.
For a week or ten days Anty remained in much the same condition.
After each attack of fever it was expected that she would perish from
weakness and exhaustion; but she still held on, and then the fever
abated, and Doctor Colligan thought that it was possible she might
recover: she was, however, so dreadfully emaciated and worn out, there
was so little vitality left in her, that he would not encourage more
than the faintest hope. Anty herself was too weak either to hope or
fear;--and the women of the family, who from continual attendance knew
how very near to death she was, would hardly allow themselves to think
that she could recover.
There were two persons, however, who from the moment of her amendment
felt an inward sure conviction of her convalescence. They were Martin
and Barry. To the former this feeling was of course one of unalloyed
delight. He went over to Kelly's Court, and spoke there of his
betrothed as though she were already sitting up and eating mutton
chops; was congratulated by the young ladies on his approaching
nuptials, and sauntered round the Kelly's Court shrubberies with Frank,
talking over his future prospects; asking advice about this and that,
and propounding the pros and cons on that difficult question, whether
he would live at Dunmore, or build a house at Toneroe for himself and
Anty. With Barry, however, the feeling was very different: he was again
going to have his property wrenched from him; he was again to suffer
the pangs he had endured, when first he learned the purport of his
father's will; after clutching the fruit for which he had striven, as
even he himself felt, so basely, it was again to be torn from him so
cruelly.
He had been horribly anxious for a termination to Anty's sufferings;
horribly impatient to feel himself possessor of the whole. From day to
day, and sometimes two or three times a day, he had seen Dr Colligan,
and inquired how things were going on: he had especially enjoined that
worthy man to come up after his morning call at the inn, and get a
glass of sherry at Dunmore House; and the doctor had very generally
done so. For some time Barry endeavoured to throw the veil of brotherly
regard over the true source of his anxiety; but the veil was much too
thin to hide what it hardly covered, and Barry, as he got intimate
with the doctor, all but withdrew it altogether. When Barry would say,
"Well, doctor, how is she to-day?" and then remark, in answer to the
doctor's statement that she was very bad--"Well, I suppose it can't
last much longer; but it's very tedious, isn't it, poor thing?" it
was plain enough that the brother was not longing for the sister's
recovery. And then he would go a little further, and remark that "if
the poor thing was to go, it would be better for all she went at once,"
and expressed an opinion that he was rather ill-treated by being kept
so very long in suspense.
Doctor Colligan ought to have been shocked at this; and so he was, at
first, to a certain extent, but he was not a man of a very high tone
of feeling. He had so often heard of heirs to estates longing for
the death of the proprietors of them; he had so often seen relatives
callous and indifferent at the loss of those who ought to have been
dear to them; it seemed so natural to him that Barry should want the
estate, that he gradually got accustomed to his impatient inquiries,
and listened to, and answered them, without disgust. He fell too into a
kind of intimacy with Barry; he liked his daily glass, or three or four
glasses, of sherry; and besides, it was a good thing for him to stand
well in a professional point of view with a man who had the best house
in the village, and who would soon have eight hundred a-year.
If Barry showed his impatience and discontent as long as the daily
bulletins told him that Anty was still alive, though dying, it may
easily be imagined that he did not hide his displeasure when he first
heard that she was alive and better. His brow grew very black, his
cheeks flushed, the drops of sweat stood on his forehead, and he said,
speaking through his closed teeth, "D---- it, doctor, you don't mean to
tell me she's recovering now?"
"I don't say, Mr Lynch, whether she is or no; but it's certain the
fever has left her. She's very weak, very weak indeed; I never knew a
person to be alive and have less life in 'em; but the fever has left
her and there certainly is hope."
"Hope!" said Barry--"why, you told me she couldn't live!"
"I don't say she will, Mr Lynch, but I say she may. Of course we must
do what we can for her," and the doctor took his sherry and went his
way.
How horrible then was the state of Barry's mind! For a time he was
absolutely stupified with despair; he stood fixed on the spot where the
doctor had left him, realising, bringing home to himself, the tidings
which he had heard. His sister to rise again, as though it were from
the dead, to push him off his stool! Was he to fall again into that
horrid low abyss in which even the Tuam attorney had scorned him; in
which he had even invited that odious huxter's son to marry his sister
and live in his house? What! was he again to be reduced to poverty,
to want, to despair, by her whom he so hated? Could nothing be
done?--Something must be done--she should not be, could not be allowed
to leave that bed of sickness alive. "There must be an end of her,"
he muttered through his teeth, "or she'll drive me mad!" And then
he thought how easily he might have smothered her, as she lay there
clasping his hand, with no one but themselves in the room; and as the
thought crossed his brain his eyes nearly started from his head, the
sweat ran down his face, he clutched the money in his trousers' pocket
till the coin left an impression on his flesh, and he gnashed his teeth
till his jaws ached with his own violence. But then, in that sick-room,
he had been afraid of her; he could not have touched her then for the
wealth of the Bank of England!--but now!
The devil sat within him, and revelled with full dominion over his
soul: there was then no feeling left akin to humanity to give him one
chance of escape; there was no glimmer of pity, no shadow of remorse,
no sparkle of love, even though of a degraded kind; no hesitation
in the will for crime, which might yet, by God's grace, lead to
its eschewal: all there was black, foul, and deadly, ready for the
devil's deadliest work. Murder crouched there, ready to spring, yet
afraid;--cowardly, but too thirsty alter blood to heed its own fears.
Theft,--low, pilfering, pettifogging, theft; avarice, lust, and
impotent, scalding hatred. Controlled by these the black blood rushed
quick to and from his heart, filling him with sensual desires below the
passions of a brute, but denying him one feeling or one appetite for
aught that was good or even human.
Again the next morning the doctor was questioned with intense anxiety;
"Was she going?--was she drooping?--had yesterday's horrid doubts
raised only a false alarm?" It was utterly beyond Barry's power to make
any attempt at concealment, even of the most shallow kind. "Well,
doctor, is she dying yet?" was the brutal question he put.
"She is, if anything, rather stronger;" answered the doctor, shuddering
involuntarily at the open expression of Barry's atrocious wish, and yet
taking his glass of wine.
"The devil she is!" muttered Barry, throwing himself into an arm-chair.
He sat there some little time, and the doctor also sat down, said
nothing, but continued sipping his wine.
"In the name of mercy, what must I do?" said Barry, speaking more to
himself than to the other.
"Why, you've enough, Mr Lynch, without hers; you can do well enough
without it."
"Enough! Would you think you had enough if you were robbed of more than
half of all you have. Half, indeed," he shouted--"I may say all, at
once. I don't believe there's a man in Ireland would bear it. Nor will
I."
Again there was a silence; but still, somehow, Colligan seemed to stay
longer than usual. Every now and then Barry would for a moment look
full in his face, and almost instantly drop his eyes again. He was
trying to mature future plans; bringing into shape thoughts which had
occurred to him, in a wild way at different times; proposing to himself
schemes, with which his brain had been long loaded, but which he had
never resolved on,--which he had never made palpable and definite. One
thing he found sure and certain; on one point he was able to become
determined: he could not do it alone; he must have an assistant; he
must buy some one's aid; and again he looked at Colligan, and again
his eyes fell. There was no encouragement there, but there was no
discouragement. Why did he stay there so long? Why did he so slowly sip
that third glass of wine? Was he waiting to be asked? was he ready,
willing, to be bought? There must be something in his thoughts--he must
have some reason for sitting there so long, and so silent, without
speaking a word, or taking his eyes off the fire.
Barry had all but made up his mind to ask the aid he wanted; but he
felt that he was not prepared to do so--that he should soon quiver and
shake, that he could not then carry it through. He felt that he wanted
spirit to undertake his own part in the business, much less to inspire
another with the will to assist him in it. At last he rose abruptly
from his chair, and said,
"Will you dine with me to-day, Colligan?--I'm so down in the mouth, so
deucedly hipped, it will be a charity."
"Well," said Colligan, "I don't care if I do. I must go down to your
sister in the evening, and I shall be near her here."
"Yes, of course; you'll be near her here, as you say: come at six,
then. By the bye, couldn't you go to Anty first, so that we won't be
disturbed over our punch?"
"I must see her the last thing,--about nine, but I can look up again
afterwards, for a minute or so. I don't stay long with her now: it's
better not."
"Well, then, you'll be here at six?"
"Yes, six sharp;" and at last the doctor got up and went away.
It was odd that Doctor Colligan should have sat thus long; it showed
a great want of character and of good feeling in him. He should never
have become intimate, or even have put up with a man expressing such
wishes as those which so often fell from Barry's lips. But he was
entirely innocent of the thoughts which Barry attributed to him. It had
never even occurred to him that Barry, bad as he was, would wish to
murder his sister. No; bad, heedless, sensual as Doctor Colligan might
be, Barry was a thousand fathoms deeper in iniquity than he.
As soon as he had left the room the other uttered a long, deep sigh.
It was a great relief to him to be alone: he could now collect his
thoughts, mature his plans, and finally determine. He took his usual
remedy in his difficulties, a glass of brandy; and, going out into the
garden, walked up and down the gravel walk almost unconsciously, for
above an hour.
Yes: he would do it. He would not be a coward. The thing had been done
a thousand times before. Hadn't he heard of it over and over again?
Besides, Colligan's manner was an assurance to him that he would not
boggle at such a job. But then, of course, he must be paid--and Barry
began to calculate how much he must offer for the service; and, when
the service should be performed, how he might avoid the fulfilment of
his portion of the bargain.
He went in and ordered the dinner; filled the spirit decanters, opened
a couple of bottles of wine, and then walked out again. In giving his
orders, and doing the various little things with which he had to keep
himself employed, everybody, and everything seemed strange to him. He
hardly knew what he was about, and felt almost as though he were in
a dream. He had quite made up his mind as to what he would do; his
resolution was fixed to carry it through but:--still there was the
but,--how was he to open it to Doctor Colligan? He walked up and down
the gravel path for a long time, thinking of this; or rather trying to
think of it, for his thoughts would fly away to all manner of other
subjects, and he continually found himself harping upon some trifle,
connected with Anty, but wholly irrespective of her death; some little
thing that she had done for him, or ought to have done; something she
had said a long time ago, and which he had never thought of till now;
something she had worn, and which at the time he did not even know that
he had observed; and as often as he found his mind thus wandering, he
would start off at a quicker pace, and again endeavour to lay out a
line of conduct for the evening.
At last, however, he came to the conclusion that it would be better to
trust to the chapter of chances: there was one thing, or rather two
things, he could certainly do: he could make the doctor half drunk
before he opened on the subject, and he would take care to be in the
same state himself. So he walked in and sat still before the fire, for
the two long remaining hours, which intervened before the clock struck
six.
It was about noon when the doctor left him, and during those six long
solitary hours no one feeling of remorse had entered his breast. He had
often doubted, hesitated as to the practicability of his present plan,
but not once had he made the faintest effort to overcome the wish to
have the deed done. There was not one moment in which he would not most
willingly have had his sister's blood upon his hands, upon his brain,
upon his soul; could he have willed and accomplished her death, without
making himself liable to the penalties of the law.
At length Doctor Colligan came, and Barry made a great effort to appear
unconcerned and in good humour.
"And how is she now, doctor?" he said, as they sat down to table.
"Is it Anty?--why, you know I didn't mean to see her since I was here
this morning, till nine o'clock."
"Oh, true; so you were saying. I forgot. Well, will you take a glass of
wine?"--and Barry filled his own glass quite full.
He drank his wine at dinner like a glutton, who had only a short
time allowed him, and wished during that time to swallow as much as
possible; and he tried to hurry his companion in the same manner. But
the doctor didn't choose to have wine forced down his throat; he wished
to enjoy himself, and remonstrated against Barry's violent hospitality.
At last, dinner was over; the things were taken away, they both drew
their chairs over the fire, and began the business of the evening--the
making and consumption of punch. Barry had determined to begin upon the
subject which lay so near his heart, at eight o'clock. He had thought
it better to fix an exact hour, and had calculated that the whole
matter might be completed before Colligan went over to the inn. He
kept continually looking at his watch, and gulping down his drink, and
thinking over and over again how he would begin the conversation.
"You're very comfortable here, Lynch," said the doctor, stretching his
long legs before the fire, and putting his dirty boots upon the fender.
"Yes, indeed," said Barry, not knowing what the other was saying.
"All you want's a wife, and you'd have as warm a house as there is in
Galway. You'll be marrying soon, I suppose?"
"Well, I wouldn't wonder if I did. You don't take your punch; there's
brandy there, if you like it better than whiskey."
"This is very good, thank you--couldn't be better. You haven't much
land in your own hands, have you?"
"Why, no--I don't think I have. What's that you're saying?--land?--No,
not much: if there's a thing I hate, it's farming."
"Well, upon my word you're wrong. I don't see what else a gentleman has
to do in the country. I wish to goodness I could give up the gallipots
[41] and farm a few acres of my own land. There's nothing I wish so
much as to get a bit of land: indeed, I've been looking out for it, but
it's so difficult to get."
[FOOTNOTE 41: gallipots--A gallipot was a small ceramic vessel
used by apothecaries to hold medicines. The term
was also used colloquially to refer to apothecaries
themselves and even physicians (Trollope so uses
the term in later chapters).]
Up to this, Barry had hardly listened to what the doctor had been
saying; but now he was all attention. "So that is to be his price,"
thought he to himself, "he'll cost me dear, but I suppose he must have
it."
Barry looked at his watch: it was near eight o'clock, but he seemed to
feel that all he had drank had had no effect on him: it had not given
him the usual pluck; it had not given him the feeling of reckless
assurance, which he mistook for courage and capacity.
"If you've a mind to be a tenant of mine, Colligan, I'll keep a look
out for you. The land's crowded now, but there's a lot of them cottier
[42] devils I mean to send to the right about. They do the estate no
good, and I hate the sight of them. But you know how the property's
placed, and while Anty's in this wretched state, of course I can do
nothing."
[FOOTNOTE 42: cottier--an Irish tenant renting land directly from
the owner, with the price determined by bidding]
"Will you bear it in mind though, Lynch? When a bit of land does fall
into your hands, I should be glad to be your tenant. I'm quite in
earnest, and should take it as a great favour."
"I'll not forget it;" and then he remained silent for a minute. What an
opportunity this was for him to lose! Colligan so evidently wished to
be bribed--so clearly showed what the price was which was to purchase
him. But still he could not ask the fatal question.
Again he sat silent for a while, till he looked at his watch, and found
it was a quarter past eight. "Never fear," he said, referring to the
farm; "you shall have it, and it shall not be the worst land on the
estate that I'll give you, you may be sure; for, upon my soul, I have a
great regard for you; I have indeed."
The doctor thanked him for his good opinion.
"Oh! I'm not blarneying you; upon my soul I'm not; that's not the way
with me at all; and when you know me better you'll say so,--and you may
be sure you shall have the farm by Michaelmas." And then, in a voice
which he tried to make as unconcerned as possible, he continued: "By
the bye, Colligan, when do you think this affair of Anty's _will_ be
over? It's the devil and all for a man not to know when he'll be his
own master."
"Oh, you mustn't calculate on your sister's property at all now," said
the other, in an altered voice. "I tell you it's very probable she may
recover."
This again silenced Barry, and he let the time go by, till the doctor
took up his hat, to go down to his patient.
"You'll not be long, I suppose?" said Barry.
"Well, it's getting late," said Colligan, "and I don't think I'll be
coming back to-night."
"Oh, but you will; indeed, you must. You promised you would, you know,
and I want to hear how she goes on."
"Well, I'll just come up, but I won't stay, for I promised Mrs Colligan
to be home early." This was always the doctor's excuse when he wished
to get away. He never allowed his domestic promises to draw him home
when there was anything to induce him to stay abroad; but, to tell the
truth, he was getting rather sick of his companion. The doctor took his
hat, and went to his patient.
"He'll not be above ten minutes or at any rate a quarter of an hour,"
thought Barry, "and then I must do it. How he sucked it all in about
the farm!--that's the trap, certainly." And he stood leaning with
his back against the mantel-piece, and his coat-laps hanging over
his arm, waiting for and yet fearing, the moment of the doctor's
return. It seemed an age since he went. Barry looked at his
watch almost every minute; it was twenty minutes past nine,
five-and-twenty--thirty--forty--three quarters of an hour--"By Heaven!"
said he, "the man is not coming! he is going to desert me--and I shall
be ruined! Why the deuce didn't I speak out when the man was here!"
At last his ear caught the sound of the doctor's heavy foot on the
gravel outside the door, and immediately afterwards the door bell was
rung. Barry hastily poured out a glass of raw spirits and swallowed it;
he then threw himself into his chair, and Doctor Colligan again entered
the room.
"What a time you've been, Colligan! Why I thought you weren't coming
all night. Now, Terry, some hot water, and mind you look sharp about
it. Well, how's Anty to-night?"
"Weak, very weak; but mending, I think. The disease won't kill her now;
the only thing is whether the cure will."
"Well, doctor, you can't expect me to be very anxious about it:
unfortunately, we had never any reason to be proud of Anty, and it
would be humbug in me to pretend that I wish she should recover, to rob
me of what you know I've every right to consider my own." Terry brought
the hot water in, and left the room.
"Well, I can't say you do appear very anxious about it. I'll just
swallow one dandy of punch, and then I'll get home. I'm later now than
I meant to be."
"Nonsense, man. The idea of your being in a hurry, when everybody knows
that a doctor can never tell how long he may be kept in a sick-room!
But come now, tell the truth; put yourself in my condition, and do you
mean to say you'd be very anxious that Anty should recover?--Would
you like your own sister to rise from her death-bed to rob you of
everything you have? For, by Heaven! it is robbery--nothing less. She's
so stiff-necked, that there's no making any arrangement with her. I've
tried everything, fair means and foul, and nothing'll do but she must
go and marry that low young Kelly--so immeasurably beneath her, you
know, and of course only scheming for her money. Put yourself in my
place, I say; and tell me fairly what your own wishes would be?"
"I was always fond of my brothers and sisters," answered the doctor;
"and we couldn't well rob each other, for none of us had a penny to
lose."
"That's a different thing, but just supposing you were exactly in my
shoes at this moment, do you mean to tell me that you'd be glad she
should get well?--that you'd be glad she should be able to deprive you
of your property, disgrace your family, drive you from your own home,
and make your life miserable for ever after?"
"Upon my soul I can't say; but good night now, you're getting excited,
and I've finished my drop of punch."
"Ah! nonsense, man, sit down. I've something in earnest I want to say
to you," and Barry got up and prevented the doctor from leaving the
room. Colligan had gone so far as to put on his hat and great coat, and
now sat down again without taking them off.
"You and I, Colligan, are men of the world, and too wide awake for all
the old woman's nonsense people talk. What can I, or what could you in
my place, care for a half-cracked old maid like Anty, who's better dead
than alive, for her own sake and everybody's else; unless it is some
scheming ruffian like young Kelly there, who wants to make money by
her?"
"I'm not asking you to care for her; only, if those are your ideas,
it's as well not to talk about them for appearance sake."
"Appearance sake! There's nothing makes me so sick, as for two men like
you and me, who know what's what, to be talking about appearance sake,
like two confounded parsons, whose business it is to humbug everybody,
and themselves into the bargain. I'll tell you what: had my father--bad
luck to him for an old rogue--not made such a will as he did, I'd 've
treated Anty as well as any parson of 'em all would treat an old maid
of a sister; but I'm not going to have her put over my head this way.
Come, doctor, confound all humbug. I say it openly to you--to please
me, Anty must never come out of that bed alive."
"As if your wishes could make any difference. If it is to be so, she'll
die, poor creature, without your saying so much about it; but may-be,
and it's very likely too, she'll be alive and strong, after the two of
us are under the sod."
"Well; if it must be so, it must; but what I wanted to say to you is
this: while you were away, I was thinking about what you said of the
farm--of being a tenant of mine, you know."
"We can talk about that another time," said the doctor, who began to
feel an excessive wish to be out of the house.
"There's no time like the present, when I've got it in my mind; and, if
you'll wait, I can settle it all for you to-night. I was telling you
that I hate farming, and so I do. There are thirty or five-and-thirty
acres of land about the house, and lying round to the back of the town;
you shall take them off my hands, and welcome."
This was too good an offer to be resisted, and Colligan said he would
take the land, with many thanks, if the rent any way suited him.
"We'll not quarrel about that, you may be sure, Colligan," continued
Barry; "and as I said fifty acres at first--it was fifty acres I think
you were saying you wished for--I'll not baulk you, and go back from my
own word."
"What you have yourself, round the house, 'll be enough; only I'm
thinking the rent 'll be too high."
"It shall not; it shall be low enough; and, as I was saying, you shall
have the remainder, at the same price, immediately after Michaelmas, as
soon as ever those devils are ejected."
"Well;" said Colligan, who was now really interested, "what's the
figure?"
Barry had been looking steadfastly at the fire during the whole
conversation, up to this: playing with the poker, and knocking the
coals about. He was longing to look into the other's face, but he did
not dare. Now, however, was his time; it was now or never: he took one
furtive glance at the doctor, and saw that he was really anxious on the
subject--that his attention was fixed.
"The figure," said he; "the figure should not trouble you if you had no
one but me to deal, with. But there'll be Anty, confound her, putting
her fist into this and every other plan of mine!"
"I'd better deal with the agent, I'm thinking," said Colligan; "so,
good night."
"You'll find you'd a deal better be dealing with me: you'll never find
an easier fellow to deal with, or one who'll put a better thing in your
way."
Colligan again sat down. He couldn't quite make Barry out: he suspected
he was planning some iniquity, but he couldn't tell what; and he
remained silent, looking full into the other's face till he should go
on. Barry winced under the look, and hesitated; but at last he screwed
himself up to the point, and said,
"One word, between two friends, is as good as a thousand. If Anty
dies of this bout, you shall have the fifty acres, with a lease for
perpetuity, at sixpence an acre. Come, that's not a high figure, I
think."
"What?" said Colligan, apparently not understanding him, "a lease for
perpetuity at how much an acre?"
"Sixpence--a penny--a pepper-corn--just anything you please. But it's
all on Anty's dying. While she's alive I can do nothing for the best
friend I have."
"By the Almighty above us," said the doctor, almost in a whisper, "I
believe the wretched man means me to murder her--his own sister!"
"Murder?--Who talked or said a word of murder?" said Barry, with a
hoarse and croaking voice--"isn't she dying as she is?--and isn't she
better dead than alive? It's only just not taking so much trouble to
keep the life in her; you're so exceeding clever you know!"--and he
made a ghastly attempt at smiling. "With any other doctor she'd have
been dead long since: leave her to herself a little, and the farm's
your own; and I'm sure there'll 've been nothing at all like murder
between us."
"By Heavens, he does!"--and Colligan rose quickly from his seat "he
means to have her murdered, and thinks to make me do the deed! Why, you
vile, thieving, murdering reptile!" and as he spoke the doctor seized
him by the throat, and shook him violently in his strong grasp--"who
told you I was a fit person for such a plan? who told you to come to
me for such a deed? who told you I would sell my soul for your paltry
land?"--and he continued grasping Barry's throat till he was black in
the face, and nearly choked. "Merciful Heaven! that I should have sat
here, and listened to such a scheme! Take care of yourself," said he;
and he threw him violently backwards over the chairs--"if you're to be
found in Connaught to-morrow, or in Ireland the next day, I'll hang
you!"--and so saying, he hurried out of the room, and went home.
"Well," thought he, on his road: "I have heard of such men as that
before, and I believe that when I was young I read of such: but I never
expected to meet so black a villain! What had I better do?--If I go and
swear an information before a magistrate there'll be nothing but my
word and his. Besides, he said nothing that the law could take hold of.
And yet I oughtn't to let it pass: at any rate I'll sleep on it." And
so he did; but it was not for a long time, for the recollection of
Barry's hideous proposal kept him awake.
Barry lay sprawling among the chairs till the sound of the hall door
closing told him that his guest had gone, when he slowly picked himself
up, and sat down upon the sofa. Colligan's last words were ringing
in his ear--"If you're found in Ireland the next day, I'll hang
you."--Hang him!--and had he really given any one the power to speak to
him in such language as that? After all, what had he said?--He had not
even whispered a word of murder; he had only made an offer of what he
would do if Anty should die: besides, no one but themselves had heard
even that; and then his thoughts went off to another train. "Who'd have
thought," he said to himself, "the man was such a fool! He meant it, at
first, as well as I did myself. I'm sure he did. He'd never have caught
as he did about the farm else, only he got afraid--the confounded fool!
As for hanging, I'll let him know; it's just as easy for me to tell
a story, I suppose, as it is for him." And then Barry, too, dragged
himself up to bed, and cursed himself to sleep. His waking thoughts,
however, were miserable enough.
XXVIII. FANNY WYNDHAM REBELS
We will now return to Grey Abbey, Lord Cashel, and that unhappy
love-sick heiress, his ward, Fanny Wyndham. Affairs there had taken
no turn to give increased comfort either to the earl or to his niece,
during the month which succeeded the news of young Harry Wyndham's
death.
The former still adhered, with fixed pertinacity of purpose, to the
matrimonial arrangement which he had made with his son. Circumstances,
indeed, rendered it even much more necessary in the earl's eyes than it
had appeared to be when he first contemplated this scheme for releasing
himself from his son's pecuniary difficulties. He had, as the reader
will remember, advanced a very large sum of money to Lord Kilcullen,
to be repaid out of Fanny Wyndham's fortune, This money Lord Kilcullen
had certainly appropriated in the manner intended by his father, but
it had anything but the effect of quieting the creditors. The payments
were sufficiently large to make the whole hungry crew hear that his
lordship was paying his debts, but not at all sufficient to satisfy
their craving. Indeed, nearly the whole went in liquidation of turf
engagements, and gambling debts. The Jews, money-lenders, and tradesmen
merely heard that money was going from Lord Kilcullen's pocket; but
with all their exertions they got very little of it themselves.
Consequently, claims of all kinds--bills, duns, remonstrances and
threats, poured in not only upon the son but also upon the father. The
latter, it is true, was not in his own person liable for one penny of
them, nor could he well, on his own score, be said to be an embarrassed
man; but he was not the less uneasy. He had determined if possible to
extricate his son once more, and as a preliminary step had himself
already raised a large sum of money which it would much trouble him to
pay; and he moreover, as he frequently said to Lord Kilcullen, would
not and could not pay another penny for the same purpose, until he saw
a tolerably sure prospect of being repaid out of his ward's fortune.
He was therefore painfully anxious on the subject; anxious not only
that the matter should be arranged, but that it should be done at once.
It was plain that Lord Kilcullen could not remain in London, for he
would be arrested; the same thing would happen at Grey Abbey, if he
were to remain there long without settling his affairs; and if he were
once to escape his creditors by going abroad, there would be no such
thing as getting him back again. Lord Cashel saw no good reason why
there should be any delay; Harry Wyndham was dead above a month, and
Fanny was evidently grieving more for the loss of her lover than that
of her brother; she naturally felt alone in the world--and, as Lord
Cashel thought, one young viscount would be just as good as another.
The advantages, too, were much in favour of his son; he would one day
be an earl, and possess Grey Abbey. So great an accession of grandeur,
dignity, and rank could not but be, as the earl considered, very
delightful to a sensible girl like his ward. The marriage, of course,
needn't be much hurried; four or five months' time would do for that;
he was only anxious that they should be engaged--that Lord Kilcullen
should be absolutely accepted--Lord Ballindine finally rejected.
The earl certainly felt some scruples of conscience at the sacrifice
he was making of his ward, and stronger still respecting his ward's
fortune; but he appeased them with the reflection that if his son were
a gambler, a _roué_, and a scamp, Lord Ballindine was probably just as
bad; and that if the latter were to spend all Fanny's money there would
be no chance of redemption; whereas he could at any rate settle on his
wife a jointure, which would be a full compensation for the loss of her
fortune, should she outlive her husband and father-in-law. Besides, he
looked on Lord Kilcullen's faults as a father is generally inclined to
look on those of a son, whom he had not entirely given up--whom he is
still striving to redeem. He called his iniquitous vices, follies--his
licentiousness, love of pleasure--his unprincipled expenditure and
extravagance, a want of the knowledge of what money was: and his worst
sin of all, because the one least likely to be abandoned, his positive,
unyielding damning selfishness, he called "fashion"--the fashion of the
young men of the day.
Poor Lord Cashel! he wished to be honest to his ward; and yet to save
his son, and his own pocket at the same time, at her expense: he
wished to be, in his own estimation, high-minded, honourable, and
disinterested, and yet he could not resist the temptation to be
generous to his own flesh and blood at the expense of another. The
contest within him made him miserable; but the devil and mammon were
too strong for him, particularly coming as they did, half hidden
beneath the gloss of parental affection. There was little of the Roman
about the earl, and he could not condemn his own son; so he fumed and
fretted, and twisted himself about in the easy chair in his dingy
book-room, and passed long hours in trying to persuade himself that it
was for Fanny's advantage that he was going to make her Lady Kilcullen.
He might have saved himself all his anxiety. Fanny Wyndham had much
too strong a mind--much too marked a character of her own, to be made
Lady Anything by Lord Anybody. Lord Cashel might possibly prevent her
from marrying Frank, especially as she had been weak enough, through
ill-founded pique and anger, to lend him her name for dismissing him;
but neither he nor anyone else could make her accept one man, while she
loved another, and while that other was unmarried.
Since the interview between Fanny and her uncle and aunt, which has
been recorded, she had been nearly as uncomfortable as Lord Cashel, and
she had, to a certain extent, made the whole household as much so as
herself. Not that there was anything of the kill-joy character in
Fanny's composition; but that the natural disposition of Grey Abbey
and all belonging to it was to be dull, solemn, slow, and respectable.
Fanny alone had ever given any life to the place, or made the house
tolerable; and her secession to the ranks of the sombre crew was
therefore the more remarked. If Fanny moped, all Grey Abbey might
figuratively be said to hang down its head. Lady Cashel was, in every
sense of the words, continually wrapped up in wools and worsteds. The
earl was always equally ponderous, and the specific gravity of Lady
Selina could not be calculated. It was beyond the power of figures,
even in algebraic denominations, to describe her moral weight.
And now Fanny did mope, and Grey Abbey was triste [43] indeed.
Griffiths in my lady's boudoir rolled and unrolled those huge white
bundles of mysterious fleecy hosiery with more than usually slow and
unbroken perseverance. My lady herself bewailed the fermentation among
the jam-pots with a voice that did more than whine, it was almost
funereal. As my lord went from breakfast-room to book-room, from
book-room to dressing-room, and from dressing-room to dining-room, his
footsteps creaked with a sound more deadly than that of a death-watch.
The book-room itself had caught a darker gloom; the backs of the books
seemed to have lost their gilding, and the mahogany furniture its
French polish. There, like a god, Lord Cashel sate alone, throned amid
clouds of awful dulness, ruling the world of nothingness around by the
silent solemnity of his inertia.
[FOOTNOTE 43: triste--(French) sad, mournful, dull, dreary]
Lady Selina was always useful, but with a solid, slow activity, a
dignified intensity of heavy perseverance, which made her perhaps more
intolerable than her father. She was like some old coaches which we
remember--very sure, very respectable; but so tedious, so monotonous,
so heavy in their motion, that a man with a spark of mercury in his
composition would prefer any danger from a faster vehicle to their
horrid, weary, murderous, slow security. Lady Selina from day to day
performed her duties in a most uncompromising manner; she knew what was
due to her position, and from it, and exacted and performed accordingly
with a stiff, steady propriety which made her an awful if not a hateful
creature. One of her daily duties, and one for the performance of which
she had unfortunately ample opportunity, was the consolation of Fanny
under her troubles. Poor Fanny! how great an aggravation was this
to her other miseries! For a considerable time Lady Selma had known
nothing of the true cause of Fanny's gloom; for though the two cousins
were good friends, as far as Lady Selina was capable of admitting so
human a frailty as friendship, still Fanny could not bring herself to
make a confidante of her. Her kind, stupid, unpretending old aunt was a
much better person to talk to, even though she did arch her eyebrows,
and shake her head when Lord Ballindine's name was mentioned, and
assure her niece that though she had always liked him herself, he
could not be good for much, because Lord Kilcullen had said so. But
Fanny could not well dissemble; she was tormented by Lady Selina's
condolements, and recommendations of Gibbon, her encomiums on industry,
and anathemas against idleness; she was so often reminded that weeping
would not bring back her brother, nor inactive reflection make his fate
less certain, that at last she made her monitor understand that it was
about Lord Ballindine's fate that she was anxious, and that it was his
coming back which might be effected by weeping--or other measures.
Lady Selina was shocked by such feminine, girlish weakness, such want
of dignity and character, such forgetfulness, as she said to Fanny, of
what was due to her own position. Lady Selina was herself unmarried,
and not likely to marry; and why had she maintained her virgin state,
and foregone the blessings of love and matrimony? Because, as she often
said to herself, and occasionally said to Fanny, she would not step
down from the lofty pedestal on which it had pleased fortune and birth
to place her.
She learned, however, by degrees, to forgive, though she couldn't
approve, Fanny's weakness; she remembered that it was a very different
thing to be an earl's niece and an earl's daughter, and that the same
conduct could not be expected from Fanny Wyndham and Lady Selina Grey.
The two were sitting together, in one of the Grey Abbey drawing-rooms,
about the middle of April. Fanny had that morning again been talking
to her guardian on the subject nearest to her heart, and had nearly
distracted him by begging him to take steps to make Frank understand
that a renewal of his visits at Grey Abbey would not be ill received.
Lord Cashel at first tried to frighten her out of her project by
silence, frowns, and looks: but not finding himself successful, he
commenced a long oration, in which he broke down, or rather, which he
had to cut up into sundry short speeches; in which he endeavoured to
make it appear that Lord Ballindine's expulsion had originated with
Fanny herself, and that, banished or not banished, the less Fanny had
to do with him the better. His ward, however, declared, in rather a
tempestuous manner, that if she could not see him at Grey Abbey she
would see him elsewhere; and his lordship was obliged to capitulate
by promising that if Frank were unmarried in twelve months' time,
and Fanny should then still be of the same mind, he would consent to
the match and use his influence to bring it about. This by no means
satisfied Fanny, but it was all that the earl would say, and she
had now to consider whether she would accept those terms or act for
herself. Had she had any idea what steps she could with propriety take
in opposition to the earl, she would have withdrawn herself and her
fortune from his house and hands, without any scruples of conscience.
But what was she to do? She couldn't write to her lover and ask him to
come back to her!--Whither could she go? She couldn't well set up house
for herself.
Lady Selina was bending over her writing-desk, and penning most
decorous notes, with a precision of calligraphy which it was painful
to witness. She was writing orders to Dublin tradesmen, and each order
might have been printed in the Complete Letter-Writer, as a specimen of
the manner in which young ladies should address such correspondents.
Fanny had a volume of French poetry in her hand, but had it been Greek
prose it would have given her equal occupation and amusement. It had
been in her hands half-an-hour, and she had not read a line.
"Fanny," said Lady Selina, raising up her thin red spiral tresses from
her desk, and speaking in a firm, decided tone, as if well assured of
the importance of the question she was going to put; "don't you want
some things from Ellis's?"
"From where, Selina?" said Fanny, slightly starting.
"From Ellis's," repeated Lady Selina.
"Oh, the man in Grafton Street.--No, thank you." And Fanny returned to
her thoughts.
"Surely you do, Fanny," said her ladyship. "I'm sure you want black
crape; you were saying so on Friday last."
"Was I?--Yes; I think I do. It'll do another time, Selina; never mind
now."
"You had better have it in the parcel he will send to-morrow; if you'll
give me the pattern and tell me how much you want, I'll write for it."
"Thank you, Selina. You're very kind, but I won't mind it to-day."
"How very foolish of you, Fanny; you know you want it, and then you'll
be annoyed about it. You'd better let me order it with the other
things."
"Very well, dear: order it then for me."
"How much will you want? you must send the pattern too, you know."
"Indeed, Selina, I don't care about having it at all; I can do very
well without it, so don't mind troubling yourself."
"How very ridiculous, Fanny! You know you want black crape--and you
must get it from Ellis's." Lady Selina paused for a reply, and then
added, in a voice of sorrowful rebuke, "It's to save yourself the
trouble of sending Jane for the pattern."
"Well, Selina, perhaps it is. Don't bother me about it now, there's a
dear. I'll be more myself by-and-by; but indeed, indeed, I'm neither
well nor happy now."
"Not well, Fanny! What ails you?"
"Oh, nothing ails me; that is, nothing in the doctor's way. I didn't
mean I was ill."
"You said you weren't well; and people usually mean by that, that they
are ill."
"But I didn't mean it," said Fanny, becoming almost irritated, "I only
meant--" and she paused and did not finish her sentence.
Lady Selina wiped her pen, in her scarlet embroidered pen-wiper, closed
the lid of her patent inkstand, folded a piece of blotting-paper over
the note she was writing, pushed back the ruddy ringlets from her
contemplative forehead, gave a slight sigh, and turned herself
towards her cousin, with the purpose of commencing a vigorous lecture
and cross-examination, by which she hoped to exorcise the spirit
of lamentation from Fanny's breast, and restore her to a healthful
activity in the performance of this world's duties. Fanny felt what was
coming; she could not fly; so she closed her book and her eyes, and
prepared herself for endurance.
"Fanny," said Lady Selina, in a voice which was intended to be both
severe and sorrowful, "you are giving way to very foolish feelings in
a very foolish way; you are preparing great unhappiness for yourself,
and allowing your mind to waste itself in uncontrolled sorrow in a
manner--in a manner which cannot but be ruinously injurious. My dear
Fanny, why don't you do something?--why don't you occupy yourself?
You've given up your work; you've given up your music; you've given up
everything in the shape of reading; how long, Fanny, will you go on in
this sad manner?" Lady Selina paused, but, as Fanny did not immediately
reply, she continued her speech "I've begged you to go on with your
reading, because nothing but mental employment will restore your mind
to its proper tone. I'm sure I've brought you the second volume of
Gibbon twenty times, but I don't believe you've read a chapter this
month back. How long will you allow yourself to go on in this sad
manner?"
"Not long, Selina. As you say, I'm sad enough."
"But is it becoming in you, Fanny, to grieve in this way for a man whom
you yourself rejected because he was unworthy of you?"
"Selina, I've told you before that such was not the case. I believe him
to be perfectly worthy of me, and of any one much my superior too."
"But you did reject him, Fanny: you bade papa tell him to discontinue
his visits--didn't you?"
Fanny felt that her cousin was taking an unfair advantage in throwing
thus in her teeth her own momentary folly in having been partly
persuaded, partly piqued, into quarrelling with her lover; and she
resented it as such. "If I did," she said, somewhat angrily, "it does
not make my grief any lighter, to know that I brought it on myself."
"No, Fanny; but it should show you that the loss for which you grieve
is past recovery. Sorrow, for which there is no cure, should cease to
be grieved for, at any rate openly. If Lord Ballindine were to die you
would not allow his death to doom you to perpetual sighs, and perpetual
inactivity. No; you'd then know that grief was hopeless, and you'd
recover."
"But Lord Ballindine is not dead," said Fanny.
"Ah! that's just the point," continued her ladyship; "he should be dead
to you; to you he should now be just the same as though he were in his
grave. You loved him some time since, and accepted him; but you found
your love misplaced,--unreturned, or at any rate coldly returned.
Though you loved him, you passed a deliberate judgment on him, and
wisely rejected him. Having done so, his name should not be on your
lips; his form and figure should be forgotten. No thoughts of him
should sully your mind, no love for him should be permitted to rest in
your heart; it should be rooted out, whatever the exertion may cost
you."
"Selina, I believe you have no heart yourself."
"Perhaps as much as yourself, Fanny. I've heard of some people who were
said to be all heart; I flatter myself I am not one of them. I trust I
have some mind, to regulate my heart; and some conscience, to prevent
my sacrificing my duties for the sake of my heart."
"If you knew," said Fanny, "the meaning of what love was, you'd know
that it cannot be given up in a moment, as you suppose; rooted out,
as you choose to call it. But, to tell you the truth, Selina, I don't
choose to root it out. I gave my word to Frank not twelve months since,
and that with the consent of every one belonging to me. I owned that
I loved him, and solemnly assured him I would always do so. I cannot,
and I ought not, and I will not break my word. You would think of
nothing but what you call your own dignity; I will not give up my own
happiness, and, I firmly believe his, too, for anything so empty."
"Don't be angry with me, Fanny," said Lady Selina; "my regard for your
dignity arises only from my affection for you. I should be sorry to see
you lessen yourself in the eyes of those around you. You must remember
that you cannot act as another girl might, whose position was less
exalted. Miss O'Joscelyn might cry for her lost lover till she got him
back again, or got another; and no one would be the wiser, and she
would not be the worse; but you cannot do that. Rank and station are
in themselves benefits; but they require more rigid conduct, much more
control over the feelings than is necessary in a humbler position. You
should always remember, Fanny, that much is expected from those to whom
much is given."
"And I'm to be miserable all my life because I'm not a parson's
daughter, like Miss O'Joscelyn!"
"God forbid, Fanny! If you'd employ your time, engage your mind, and
cease to think of Lord Ballindine, you'd soon cease to be miserable.
Yes; though you might never again feel the happiness of loving, you
might still be far from miserable."
"But I can't cease to think of him, Selina;--I won't even try."
"Then, Fanny, I truly pity you."
"No, Selina; it's I that pity you," said Fanny, roused to energy as
different thoughts crowded to her mind. "You, who think more of your
position as an earl's daughter--an aristocrat, than of your nature
as a woman! Thank Heaven, I'm not a queen, to be driven to have other
feelings than those of my sex. I do love Lord Ballindine, and if I had
the power to cease to do so this moment, I'd sooner drown myself than
exercise it."
"Then why were you weak enough to reject him?"
"Because I was a weak, wretched, foolish girl. I said it in a moment of
passion, and my uncle acted on it at once, without giving me one minute
for reflection--without allowing me one short hour to look into my own
heart, and find how I was deceiving myself in thinking that I ought to
part from him. I told Lord Cashel in the morning that I would give him
up; and before I had time to think of what I had said, he had been
here, and had been turned out of the house. Oh, Selina! it was very,
very cruel in your father to take me at my word so shortly!" And Fanny
hid her face in her handkerchief, and burst into tears.
"That's unfair, Fanny; it couldn't be cruel in him to do for you that
which he would have done for his own daughter. He thought, and thinks,
that Lord Ballindine would not make you happy."
"Why should he think so?--he'd no business to think so," sobbed Fanny
through her tears.
"Who could have a business to think for you, if not your guardian?"
"Why didn't he think so then, before he encouraged me to receive him?
It was because Frank wouldn't do just what he was bid; it was because
he wouldn't become stiff, and solemn, and grave like--like--" Fanny was
going to make a comparison that would not have been flattering either
to Lady Selina or to her father, but she did not quite forget herself,
and stopped short without expressing the likeness. "Had he spoken
against him at first, I would have obeyed; but I will not destroy
myself now for his prejudices." And Fanny buried her face among the
pillows of the sofa, and sobbed aloud.
Lady Selina walked over to the sofa, and stood at the head of it
bending over her cousin. She wished to say something to soothe and
comfort her, but did not know how; there was nothing soothing or
comforting in her nature, nothing soft in her voice; her manner was
repulsive, and almost unfeeling; and yet she was not unfeeling. She
loved Fanny as warmly as she was capable of loving; she would have made
almost any personal sacrifice to save her cousin from grief; she would,
were it possible, have borne her sorrows herself; but she could not
unbend; she could not sit down by Fanny's side, and, taking her hand,
say soft and soothing things; she could not make her grief easier by
expressing hope for the future or consolation for the past. She would
have felt that she was compromising truth by giving hope, and dignity
by uttering consolation for the loss of that which she considered
better lost than retained. Lady Selina's only recipe was endurance and
occupation. And at any rate, she practised what she preached; she was
never idle, and she never complained.
As she saw Fanny's grief, and heard her sobs, she at first thought that
in mercy she should now give up the subject of the conversation; but
then she reflected that such mercy might be the greatest cruelty, and
that the truest kindness would be to prove to Fanny the hopelessness of
her passion.
"But, Fanny," she said, when the other's tears were a little subsided,
"it's no use either saying or thinking impossibilities. What are you to
do? You surely will not willingly continue to indulge a hopeless
passion?"
"Selina, you'll drive me mad, if you go on! Let me have my own way."
"But, Fanny, if your own way's a bad way? Surely you won't refuse
to listen to reason? You must know that what I say is only from my
affection. I want you to look before you; I want you to summon courage
to look forward; and then I'm sure your common sense will tell you that
Lord Ballindine can never be anything to you."
"Look here, Selina," and Fanny rose, and wiped her eyes, and somewhat
composed her ruffled hair, which she shook back from her face and
forehead, as she endeavoured to repress the palpitation which had
followed her tears; "I have looked forward, and I have determined what
I mean to do. It was your father who brought me to this, by forcing
me into a childish quarrel with the man I love. I have implored him,
almost on my knees, to invite Lord Ballindine again to Grey Abbey: he
has refused to do so, at any rate for twelve months--"
"And has he consented to ask him at the end of twelve months?" asked
Selina, much astonished, and, to tell the truth, considerably shocked
at this instance of what she considered her father's weakness.
"He might as well have said twelve years," replied Fanny. "How can I,
how can any one, suppose that he should remain single for my sake for
twelve months, after being repelled without a cause, or without a word
of explanation; without even seeing me;--turned out of the house, and
insulted in every way? No; whatever he might do, I will not wait twelve
months. I'll ask Lord Cashel once again, and then--" Fanny paused for a
moment, to consider in what words she would finish her declaration.
"Well, Fanny," said Selina, waiting with eager expectation for Fanny's
final declaration; for she expected to hear her say that she would
drown herself, or lock herself up for ever, or do something equally
absurd.
"Then," continued Fanny,--and a deep blush covered her face as she
spoke, "I will write to Lord Ballindine, and tell him that I am still
his own if he chooses to take me."
"Oh, Fanny! do not say such a horrid thing. Write to a man, and beg him
to accept you? No, Fanny; I know you too well, at any rate, to believe
that you'll do that."
"Indeed, indeed, I will."
"Then you'll disgrace yourself for ever. Oh, Fanny! though my heart
were breaking, though I knew I were dying for very love, I'd sooner
have it break, I'd sooner die at once, than disgrace my sex by becoming
a suppliant to a man."
"Disgrace, Selina!--and am I not now disgraced? Have I not given him my
solemn word? Have I not pledged myself to him as his wife? Have I not
sworn to him a hundred times that my heart was all his own? Have I not
suffered those caresses which would have been disgraceful had I not
looked on myself as almost already his bride? And is it no disgrace,
after that, to break my word?--to throw him aside like a glove that
wouldn't fit?--to treat him as a servant that wouldn't suit me?--to
send him a contemptuous message to be gone?--and so, to forget him,
that I might lay myself out for the addresses and admiration of
another? Could any conduct be worse than that?--any disgrace deeper?
Oh, Selina! I shudder as I think of it. Could I ever bring my lips to
own affection for another, without being overwhelmed with shame and
disgrace? And then, that the world should say that I had accepted, and
rejoiced in his love when I was poor, and rejected it with scorn when I
was rich! No; I would sooner--ten thousand times sooner my uncle should
do it for me! but if he will not write to Frank, I will. And though my
hand will shake, and my face will be flushed as I do so, I shall never
think that I have disgraced myself."
"And if, Fanny--if, after that he refuses you?"
Fanny was still standing, and she remained so for a moment or two,
meditating her reply, and then she answered:--
"Should he do so, then I have the alternative which you say you would
prefer; then I will endeavour to look forward to a broken heart, and
death, without a complaint and without tears. Then, Selina," and
she tried to smile through the tears which were again running down
her cheeks, "I'll come to you, and endeavour to borrow your stoic
endurance, and patient industry;" and, as she said so, she walked to
the door and escaped, before Lady Selina had time to reply.
XXIX. THE COUNTESS OF CASHEL IN TROUBLE
After considerable negotiation between the father and the son, the time
was fixed for Lord Kilcullen's arrival at Grey Abbey. The earl tried
much to accelerate it, and the viscount was equally anxious to stave
off the evil day; but at last it was arranged that, on the 3rd of
April, he was to make his appearance, and that he should commence his
wooing as soon as possible after that day.
When this was absolutely fixed, Lord Cashel paid a visit to his
countess, in her boudoir, to inform her of the circumstance, and
prepare her for the expected guest. He did not, however, say a word of
the purport of his son's visit. He had, at one time, thought of telling
the old lady all about it, and bespeaking her influence with Fanny for
the furtherance of his plan; but, on reconsideration, he reflected that
his wife was not the person to be trusted with any intrigue. So he
merely told her that Lord Kilcullen would be at Grey Abbey in five
days; that he would probably remain at home a long time; that, as he
was giving up his London vices and extravagances, and going to reside
at Grey Abbey, he wished that the house should be made as pleasant for
him as possible; that a set of friends, relatives, and acquaintances
should be asked to come and stay there; and, in short, that Lord
Kilcullen, having been a truly prodigal son, should have a fatted calf
prepared for his arrival.
All this flurried and rejoiced, terrified and excited my lady
exceedingly. In the first place it was so truly delightful that her
son should turn good and proper, and careful and decorous, just at
the right time of life; so exactly the thing that ought to happen. Of
course young noblemen were extravagant, and wicked, and lascivious,
habitual breakers of the commandments, and self-idolators; it was their
nature. In Lady Cashel's thoughts on the education of young men, these
evils were ranked with the measles and hooping cough; it was well that
they should be gone through and be done with early in life. She had
a kind of hazy idea that an opera-dancer and a gambling club were
indispensable in fitting a young aristocrat for his future career;
and I doubt whether she would not have agreed to the expediency
of inoculating a son of hers with these ailments in a mild
degree--vaccinating him as it were with dissipation, in order that he
might not catch the disease late in life in a violent and fatal form.
She had not therefore made herself unhappy about her son for a few
years after his first entrance on a life in London, but latterly she
had begun to be a little uneasy. Tidings of the great amount of his
debts reached even her ears; and, moreover, it was nearly time that he
should reform and settle down. During the last twelve months she had
remarked fully twelve times, to Griffiths, that she wondered when
Kilcullen would marry?--and she had even twice asked her husband,
whether he didn't think that such a circumstance would be advantageous.
She was therefore much rejoiced to hear that her son was coming to live
at home. But then, why was it so sudden? It was quite proper that the
house should be made a little gay for his reception; that he shouldn't
be expected to spend his evenings with no other society than that of
his father and mother, his sister and his cousin; but how was she
to get the house ready for the people, and the people ready for the
house, at so very short a notice?--What trouble, also, it would be
to her!--Neither she nor Griffiths would know another moment's rest;
besides--and the thought nearly drove her into hysterics,--where was
she to get a new cook?
However, she promised her husband to do her best. She received from
him a list of people to be invited, and, merely stipulating that she
shouldn't be required to ask any one except the parson of the parish
under a week, undertook to make the place as bearable as possible to
so fastidious and distinguished a person as her own son.
Her first confidante was, of course, Griffiths; and, with her
assistance, the wool and the worsted, and the knitting-needles, the
unfinished vallances and interminable yards of fringe, were put up and
rolled out of the way; and it was then agreed that a council should be
held, to which her ladyship proposed to invite Lady Selina and Fanny.
Griffiths, however, advanced an opinion that the latter was at present
too lack-a-daisical to be of any use in such a matter, and strengthened
her argument by asserting that Miss Wyndham had of late been quite
mumchance [44]. Lady Cashel was at first rather inclined to insist
on her niece being called to the council, but Griffiths's eloquence
was too strong, and her judgment too undoubted; so Fanny was left
undisturbed, and Lady Selina alone summoned to join the aged female
senators of Grey Abbey.
[FOOTNOTE 44: mumchance--silent and idle]
"Selina," said her ladyship, as soon as her daughter was seated on
the sofa opposite to her mother's easy chair, while Griffiths, having
shut the door, had, according to custom, sat herself down on her own
soft-bottomed chair, on the further side of the little table that
always stood at the countess's right hand. "Selina, what do you think
your father tells me?"
Lady Selina couldn't think, and declined guessing; for, as she
remarked, guessing was a loss of time, and she never guessed right.
"Adolphus is coming home on Tuesday."
"Adolphus! why it's not a month since he was here."
"And he's not coming only for a visit; he's coming to stay here; from
what your father says, I suppose he'll stay here the greater part of
the summer."
"What, stay at Grey Abbey all May and June?" said Lady Selina,
evidently discrediting so unlikely a story, and thinking it all but
impossible that her brother should immure himself at Grey Abbey during
the London season.
"It's true, my lady," said Griffiths, oracularly; as if her word were
necessary to place the countess's statement beyond doubt.
"Yes," continued Lady Cashel; "and he has given up all his
establishment in London--his horses, and clubs, and the opera, and all
that. He'll go into Parliament, I dare say, now, for the county; at any
rate he's coming to live at home here for the summer."
"And has he sold all his horses?" asked Lady Selina.
"If he's not done it, he's doing it," said the countess. "I declare
I'm delighted with him; it shows such proper feeling. I always knew he
would; I was sure that when the time came for doing it, Adolphus would
not forget what was due to himself and to his family."
"If what you say is true, mamma, he's going to be married."
"That's just what I was thinking, my lady," said Griffiths. "When her
ladyship first told me all about it,--how his lordship was coming down
to live regular and decorous among his own people, and that he was
turning his back upon his pleasures and iniquities, thinks I to myself
there'll be wedding favours coming soon to Grey Abbey."
"If it is so, Selina, your father didn't say anything to me about it,"
said the countess, somewhat additionally flustered by the importance of
the last suggestion; "and if he'd even guessed such a thing, I'm sure
he'd have mentioned it."
"It mightn't be quite fixed, you know, mamma: but if Adolphus is doing
as you say, you may be sure he's either engaged, or thinking of
becoming so."
"Well, my dear, I'm sure I wish it may be so; only I own I'd like to
know, because it makes a difference, as to the people he'd like to
meet, you know. I'm sure nothing would delight me so much as to
receive Adolphus's wife. Of course she'd always be welcome to lie in
here--indeed it'd be the fittest place. But we should be dreadfully put
about, eh, Griffiths?"
"Why, we should, my lady; but, to my mind, this would be the only most
proper place for my lord's heir to be born in. If the mother and child
couldn't have the best of minding here, where could they?"
"Of course, Griffiths; and we wouldn't mind the trouble, on such an
occasion. I think the south room would be the best, because of the
dressing-room being such a good size, and neither of the fireplaces
smoking, you know."
"Well, I don't doubt but it would, my lady; only the blue room is
nearer to your ladyship here, and in course your ladyship would choose
to be in and out."
And visions of caudle cups, cradles, and monthly nurses, floated over
Lady Cashel's brain, and gave her a kind of dreamy feel that the world
was going to begin again with her.
"But, mamma, is Adolphus really to be here on Tuesday?" said Lady
Selina, recalling the two old women from their attendance on the
unborn, to the necessities of the present generation.
"Indeed he is, my dear, and that's what I sent for you for. Your papa
wishes to have a good deal of company here to meet your brother; and
indeed it's only reasonable, for of course this place would be very
dull for him, if there was nobody here but ourselves--and he's always
used to see so many people; but the worst is, it's all to be done at
once, and you know there'll be so much to be got through before we'll
be ready for a house full of company,--things to be got from Dublin,
and the people to be asked. And then, Selina," and her ladyship almost
wept as the latter came to her great final difficulty--"What are we to
do about a cook?--Richards'll never do; Griffiths says she won't even
do for ourselves, as it is."
"Indeed she won't, my lady; it was only impudence in her coming to such
a place at all.--She'd never be able to send a dinner up for eighteen
or twenty."
"What are we to do, Griffiths? What can have become of all the
cooks?--I'm sure there used to be cooks enough when I was first
married."
"Well, my lady, I think they must be all gone to England, those that
are any good; but I don't know what's come to the servants altogether;
as your ladyship says, they're quite altered for the worse since we
were young."
"But, mamma," said Lady Selina, "you're not going to ask people here
just immediately, are you?"
"Directly, my dear; your papa wishes it done at once. We're to have
a dinner-party this day week--that'll be Thursday; and we'll get as
many of the people as we can to stay afterwards; and we'll get the
O'Joscelyns to come on Wednesday, just to make the table look not quite
so bare, and I want you to write the notes at once. There'll be a great
many things to be got from Dublin too."
"It's very soon after poor Harry Wyndham's death, to be receiving
company," said Lady Selina, solemnly. "Really, mamma, I don't think it
will be treating Fanny well to be asking all these people so soon. The
O'Joscelyns, or the Fitzgeralds, are all very well--just our own near
neighbours; but don't you think, mamma, it's rather too soon to be
asking a house-full of strange people?"
"Well, my love, I was thinking so, and I mentioned it to your father;
but he said that poor Harry had been dead a month now--and that's true,
you know--and that people don't think so much now about those kind of
things as they used to; and that's true too, I believe."
"Indeed you may say that, my lady," interposed Griffiths. "I remember
when bombazines used to be worn three full months for an uncle or
cousin, and now they're hardly ever worn at all for the like, except
in cases where the brother or sister of him or her as is dead may be
stopping in the house, and then only for a month: and they were always
worn the full six months for a brother or sister, and sometimes the
twelve months round. Your aunt, Lady Charlotte, my lady, wore hers the
full twelve months, when your uncle, Lord Frederick, was shot by Sir
Patrick O'Donnel; and now they very seldom, never, I may say, wear them
the six months!--Indeed, I think mourning is going out altogether; and
I'm very sorry for it, for it's a very decent, proper sort of thing; at
least, such was always my humble opinion, my lady."
"Well; but what I was saying is," continued the countess, "that what
would be thought strange a few years ago, isn't thought at all so now;
and though I'm sure, Selina, I wouldn't like to do anything that looked
unkind to Fanny, I really don't see how we can help it, as your father
makes such a point of it."
"I can't say I think it's right, mamma, for I don't. But if you and
papa do, of course I've nothing further to say."
"Well, my love, I don't know that I do exactly think it's right; and
I'm sure it's not my wish to be having people, especially when I don't
know where on earth to turn for a cook. But what can we do, my dear?
Adolphus wouldn't stay the third night here, I'm sure, if there was
nobody to amuse him; and you wouldn't have him turned out of the house,
would you?"
"_I_ have him turned out, mamma? God forbid! I'd sooner he should be
here than anywhere, for here he must be out of harm's way; but still I
think that if he comes to a house of mourning, he might, for a short
time, submit to put up with its decent tranquillity."
"Selina," said the mother, pettishly, "I really thought you'd help
me when I've so much to trouble and vex me--and not make any fresh
difficulties. How can I help it?--If your father says the people are
to come, I can't say I won't let them in. I hope you won't make Fanny
think I'm doing it from disrespect to her. I'm sure I wouldn't have a
soul here for a twelvemonth, on my own account."
"I'm sure Miss Wyndham won't think any such thing, my lady," said
Griffiths; "will she, Lady Selina?--Indeed, I don't think she'll matter
it one pin."
"Indeed, Selina, I don't think she will," said the countess; and then
she half whispered to her daughter. "Poor Fanny! it's not about her
brother she's grieving; it's that horrid man, Ballindine. She sent
him away, and now she wants to have him back. I really think a little
company will be the best thing to bring her to herself again." There
was a little degree of humbug in this whisper, for her ladyship meant
her daughter to understand that she wouldn't speak aloud about Fanny's
love-affair before Griffiths; and yet she had spent many a half hour
talking to her factotum on that very subject. Indeed, what subject was
there of any interest to Lady Cashel on which she did not talk to
Griffiths!
"Well, mamma," said Lady Selina, dutifully, "I'll not say another word
about it; only let me know what you want me to do, and I'll do it. Who
is it you mean to ask?"
"Why, first of all, there's the Fitzgeralds: your father thinks that
Lord and Lady George would come for a week or so, and you know the
girls have been long talking of coming to Grey Abbey--these two years I
believe, and more."
"The girls will come, I dare say, mamma; though I don't exactly think
they're the sort of people who will amuse Adolphus; but I don't think
Lord George or Lady George will sleep away from home. We can ask them,
however; Mountains is only five miles from here, and I'm sure they'll
go back after dinner."
"Well, my dear, if they will, they must, and I can't help it; only I
must say it'll be very ill-natured of them. I'm sure it's a long time
since they were asked to stay here."
"As you say, mamma, at any rate we can ask them. And who comes next?"
"Why your father has put down the Swinburn people next; though I'm sure
I don't know how they are to come so far."
"Why, mamma, the colonel is a martyr to the gout!"
"Yes, my lady," said Griffiths, "and Mrs. Ellison is worse again, with
rheumatics. There would be nothing to do, the whole time, but nurse the
two of them."
"Never mind, Griffiths; you'll not have to nurse them, so you needn't
be so ill-natured."
"Me, ill-natured, my lady? I'm sure I begs pardon, but I didn't mean
nothing ill-natured; besides, Mrs. Ellison was always a very nice lady
to me, and I'm sure I'd be happy to nurse her, if she wanted it; only
that, as in duty bound, I've your ladyship to look to first, and so
couldn't spare time very well for nursing any one."
"Of course you couldn't, Griffiths; but, Selina, at any rate you must
ask the Ellisons: your papa thinks a great deal about the colonel--he
has so much influence in the county, and Adolphus will very likely
stand, now. Your papa and the colonel were members together for the
county more than forty years since."
"Well, mamma, I'll write Mrs. Ellison. Shall I say for a week or ten
days?"
"Say for ten days or a fortnight, and then perhaps they'll stay a
week. Then there's the Bishop of Maryborough, and Mrs. Moore. I'm sure
Adolphus will be glad to meet the bishop, for it was he that christened
him."
"Very well, mamma, I'll write to Mrs. Moore. I suppose the bishop is in
Dublin at present?"
"Yes, my dear, I believe so. There can't be anything to prevent their
coming."
"Only that he's the managing man on the Education Board, and he's
giving up his time very much to that at present. I dare say he'll come,
but he won't stay long."
"Well, Selina, if he won't, I can't help it; and I'm sure, now I think
about the cook, I don't see how we're to expect anybody to stay. What
am I to do, Griffiths, about that horrid woman?"
"I'll tell you what I was thinking, my lady; only I don't know whether
your ladyship would like it, either, and if you didn't you could easily
get rid of him when all these people are gone."
"Get rid of who?"
"I was going to say, my lady--if your ladyship would consent to have a
man cook for a time, just to try."
"Then I never will, Griffiths: there'd be no peace in the house with
him!"
"Well, your ladyship knows best, in course; only if you thought well
of trying it, of course you needn't keep the man; and I know there's
Murray in Dublin, that was cook so many years to old Lord Galway. I
know he's to be heard of at the hotel in Grafton Street."
"I can't bear the thoughts of a man cook, Griffiths: I'd sooner have
three women cooks, and I'm sure one's enough to plague anybody."
"But none's worse, my lady," said Griffiths.
"You needn't tell me that. I wonder, Selina, if I were to write to my
sister, whether she could send me over anything that would answer?"
"What, from London, my lady?" answered Griffiths--"You'd find a London
woman cook sent over in that way twice worse than any man: she'd be
all airs and graces. If your ladyship thought well of thinking about
Murray, Richards would do very well under him: she's a decent poor
creature, poor woman--only she certainly is not a cook that'd suit for
such a house as this; and it was only impudence her thinking to attempt
it."
"But, mamma," said Lady Selina, "do let me know to whom I am to write,
and then you and Griffiths can settle about the cook afterwards; the
time is so very short that I ought not to lose a post."
The poor countess threw herself back in her easy chair, the picture of
despair. Oh, how much preferable were rolls of worsted and yards of
netting, to the toils and turmoil of preparing for, and entertaining
company! She was already nearly overcome by the former: she didn't dare
to look forward to the miseries of the latter. She already began to
feel the ill effects of her son's reformation, and to wish that it had
been postponed just for a month or two, till she was a little more
settled.
"Well, mamma," said Lady Selina, as undisturbed and calm as ever, and
as resolved to do her duty without flinching, "shall we go on?"
The countess groaned and sighed--"There's the list there, Selina, which
your father put down in pencil. You know the people as well as I do:
just ask them all--"
"But, mamma, I'm not to ask them all to stay here:--I suppose some are
only to come to dinner?--the O'Joscelyns, and the Parchments?"
"Ask the O'Joscelyns for Wednesday and Thursday: the girls might
as well stay and sleep here. But what's the good of writing to
them?--can't you drive over to the Parsonage and settle it all
there?--you do nothing but make difficulties, Selina, and my head's
racking."
Lady Selina sate silent for a short time, conning the list, and
endeavouring to see her way through the labyrinth of difficulties
which was before her, without further trouble to her mother; while the
countess leaned back, with her eyes closed, and her hands placed on the
arms of her chair, as though she were endeavouring to get some repose,
after the labour she had gone through. Her daughter, however, again
disturbed her.
"Mamma," she said, trying by the solemnity of her tone to impress her
mother with the absolute necessity she was under of again appealing to
her upon the subject, "what _are_ we to do about young men?"
"About young men, my dear?"
"Yes, mamma: there'll be a house-full of young ladies--there's the
Fitzgeralds--and Lady Louisa Pratt--and Miss Ellison--and the three
O'Joscelyns--and not a single young man, except Mr O'Joscelyn's
curate!"
"Well, my dear, I'm sure Mr. Hill's a very nice young man."
"So he is, mamma; a very good young man; but he won't do to amuse such
a quantity of girls. If there were only one or two he'd do very well;
besides, I'm sure Adolphus won't like it."
"Why; won't he talk to the young ladies?--I'm sure he was always fond
of ladies' society."
"I tell you, mamma, it won't do. There'll be the bishop and two other
clergymen, and old Colonel Ellison, who has always got the gout, and
Lord George, if he comes--and I'm sure he won't. If you want to make a
pleasant party for Adolphus, you must get some young men; besides, you
can't ask all those girls, and have nobody to dance with them or talk
to them."
"I'm sure, my dear, I don't know what you're to do. I don't know any
young men except Mr. Hill; and there's that young Mr. Grundy, who lives
in Dublin. I promised his aunt to be civil to him: can't you ask him
down?"
"He was here before, mamma, and I don't think he liked it. I'm sure we
didn't. He didn't speak a word the whole day he was here. He's not at
all the person to suit Adolphus."
"Then, my dear, you _must_ go to your papa, and ask him: it's quite
clear I can't make young men. I remember, years ago, there always used
to be too many of them, and I don't know where they're all gone to. At
any rate, when they do come, there'll be nothing for them to eat," and
Lady Cashel again fell back upon her deficiencies in the kitchen
establishment.
Lady Selina saw that nothing more could be obtained from her mother,
no further intelligence as regarded the embryo party. The whole burden
was to lie on her shoulders, and very heavy she felt it. As far as
concerned herself, she had no particular wish for one kind of guest
more than another: it was not for herself that she wanted young men;
she knew that at any rate there were none within reach whom she could
condescend to notice save as her father's guests; there could be no
one there whose presence could be to her of any interest: the gouty
colonel, and the worthy bishop, would be as agreeable to her as any
other men that would now be likely to visit Grey Abbey. But Lady Selina
felt a real desire that others in the house might be happy while there.
She was no flirt herself, nor had she ever been; it was not in her
nature to be so. But though she herself might be contented to twaddle
with old men, she knew that other girls would not. Yet it was not that
she herself had no inward wish for that admiration which is desired
by nearly every woman, or that she thought a married state was an
unenviable one. No; she could have loved and loved truly, and could
have devoted herself most scrupulously to the duties of a wife; but she
had vainly and foolishly built up for herself a pedestal, and there she
had placed herself; nor would she come down to stand on common earth,
though Apollo had enticed her, unless he came with the coronet of a
peer upon his brow.
She left her mother's boudoir, went down into the drawing-room,
and there she wrote her notes of invitation, and her orders to the
tradesmen; and then she went to her father, and consulted him on the
difficult subject of young men. She suggested the Newbridge Barracks,
where the dragoons were; and the Curragh, where perhaps some stray
denizen of pleasure might be found, neither too bad for Grey Abbey, nor
too good to be acceptable to Lord Kilcullen; and at last it was decided
that a certain Captain Cokely, and Mat Tierney, should be asked. They
were both acquaintances of Adolphus; and though Mat was not a young
man, he was not very old, and was usually very gay.
So that matter was settled, and the invitations were sent off. The
countess overcame her difficulty by consenting that Murray the man cook
should be hired for a given time, with the distinct understanding that
he was to take himself off with the rest of the guests, and so great
was her ladyship's sense of the importance of the negotiation, that she
absolutely despatched Griffiths to Dublin to arrange it, though thereby
she was left two whole days in solitary misery at Grey Abbey; and had
to go to bed, and get up, she really hardly knew how, with such
assistance as Lady Selina's maid could give her.
When these things were all arranged, Selina told her cousin that
Adolphus was coming home, and that a house full of company had been
asked to meet him. She was afraid that Fanny would be annoyed and
offended at being forced to go into company so soon after her brother's
death, but such was not the case. She felt, herself, that her poor
brother was not the cause of the grief that was near her heart; and she
would not pretend what she didn't really feel.
"You were quite right, Selina," she said, smiling, "about the things
you said yesterday I should want from Dublin: now, I shall want them;
and, as I wouldn't accept of your good-natured offer, I must take the
trouble of writing myself."
"If you like it, Fanny, I'll write for you," said Selina.
"Oh no, I'm not quite so idle as that"--and she also began her
preparations for the expected festivities. Little did either of them
think that she, Fanny Wyndham, was the sole cause of all the trouble
which the household and neighbourhood were to undergo:--the fatigue of
the countess; Griffiths's journey; the arrival of the dread man cook;
Richards's indignation at being made subordinate to such authority; the
bishop's desertion of the Education Board; the colonel's dangerous and
precipitate consumption of colchicum; the quarrel between Lord and
Lady George as to staying or not staying; the new dresses of the Miss
O'Joscelyns, which their worthy father could so ill afford; and, above
all, the confusion, misery, rage, and astonishment which attended Lord
Kilcullen's unexpected retreat from London, in the middle of the
summer. And all in vain!
How proud and satisfied Lord Ballindine might have been, had he been
able to see all this, and could he have known how futile was every
effort Lord Cashel could make to drive from Fanny Wyndham's heart the
love she felt for him.
The invitations, however, were, generally speaking, accepted. The
bishop and his wife would be most happy; the colonel would come if the
gout would possibly allow; Lady George wrote a note to say they would
be very happy to stay a few days, and Lord George wrote another soon
after to say he was sorry, but that they must return the same evening.
The O'Joscelyns would be delighted; Mat Tierney would be very proud;
Captain Cokely would do himself the honour; and, last but not least,
Mr. Murray would preside below stairs--for a serious consideration.
What a pity so much trouble should have been taken! They might all have
stayed at home; for Fanny Wyndham will never become Lady Kilcullen.
XXX. LORD KILCULLEN OBEYS HIS FATHER
On the appointed day, or rather on the night of the appointed day, Lord
Kilcullen reached Grey Abbey; for it was about eleven o'clock when his
travelling-phaëton rattled up to the door. He had been expected to
dinner at seven, and the first attempts of Murray in the kitchens of
Grey Abbey had been kept waiting for him till half-past eight; but in
vain. At that hour the earl, black with ill-humour, ordered dinner;
and remarked that he considered it criminal in any man to make an
appointment, who was not sufficiently attached to veracity to keep it.
The evening was passed in moody silence. The countess was disappointed,
for she always contrived to persuade herself that she was very anxious
to see her son. Lady Selina was really vexed, and began to have her
doubts as to her brother's coming at all: what was to be done, if it
turned out that all the company had been invited for nothing? As to
Fanny, though very indifferent to the subject of her cousin's coming,
she was not at all in a state of mind to dissipate the sullenness which
prevailed. The ladies went to bed early, the countess grumbling at her
lot, in not being allowed to see her son, and her daughter and niece
marching off with their respective candlesticks in solemn silence. The
earl retired to his book-room soon afterwards; but he had not yet sat
down, when the quick rattle of the wheels was heard upon the gravel
before the house.
Lord Cashel walked out into the hall, prepared to meet his son in a
befitting manner; that is, with a dignified austerity that could not
fail to convey a rebuke even to his hardened heart. But he was balked
in his purpose, for he found that Lord Kilcullen was not alone; Mat
Tierney had come down with him. Kilcullen had met his friend in Dublin,
and on learning that he also was bound for Grey Abbey on the day but
one following, had persuaded him to accelerate his visit, had waited
for him, and brought him down in his own carriage. The truth was, that
Lord Kilcullen had thought that the shades of Grey Abbey would be too
much for him, without some genial spirit to enlighten them: he was
delighted to find that Mat Tierney was to be there, and was rejoiced
to be able to convey him with him, as a sort of protection from his
father's eloquence for the first two days of the visit.
"Lord Kilcullen, your mother and I--" began the father, intent on at
once commenting on the iniquity of the late arrival; when he saw the
figure of a very stout gentleman, amply wrapped up in travelling
habiliments, follow his son into the inner hall.
"Tierney, my lord," said the son, "was good enough to come down with
me. I found that he intended to be here to-morrow, and I told him you
and my mother would be delighted to see him to-day instead."
The earl shook Mr. Tierney's hand, and told him how very welcome he
was at all times, and especially at present--unexpected pleasures were
always the most agreeable; and then the earl bustled about, and ordered
supper and wine, and fussed about the bed-rooms, and performed the
necessary rites of hospitality, and then went to bed, without having
made one solemn speech to his son. So far, Lord Kilcullen had been
successful in his manoeuvre; and he trusted that by making judicious
use of Mat Tierney, he might be able to stave off the evil hour for at
any rate a couple of days.
But he was mistaken. Lord Cashel was now too much in earnest to be
put off his purpose; he had been made too painfully aware that his
son's position was desperate, and that he must at once be saved by a
desperate effort, or given over to utter ruin. And, to tell the truth,
so heavy were the new debts of which he heard from day to day, so
insurmountable seemed the difficulties, that he all but repented that
he had not left him to his fate. The attempt, however, must again be
made; he was there, in the house, and could not be turned out; but
Lord Cashel determined that at any rate no time should be lost.
The two new arrivals made their appearance the next morning, greatly
to Lady Cashel's delight; she was perfectly satisfied with her son's
apology, and delighted to find that at any rate one of her expected
guests would not fail her in her need. The breakfast went over
pleasantly enough, and Kilcullen was asking Mat to accompany him into
the stables, to see what novelties they should find there, when Lord
Cashel spoiled the arrangement by saying,
"Could you spare me half-an-hour in the bookroom first, Kilcullen?"
This request, of course, could not be refused; and the father and son
walked off, leaving Mat Tierney to the charity of the ladies.
There was much less of flippant overbearing impudence now, about Lord
Kilcullen, much less of arrogance and insult from the son towards the
father, than there had been in the previous interview which has been
recorded. He seemed to be somewhat in dread, to be cowed, and ill at
ease; he tried, however, to assume his usual manner, and followed his
father into the book-room with an affected air of indifference, which
very ill concealed his real feelings.
"Kilcullen," began the earl, "I was very sorry to see Tierney with you
last night. It would have been much better that we should have been
alone together, at any rate for one morning. I suppose you are aware
that there is a great deal to be talked over between us?"
"I suppose there is," said the son; "but I couldn't well help bringing
the man, when he told me he was coming here."
"He didn't ask you to bring him, I suppose?--but we will not talk about
that. Will you do me the favour to inform me what your present plans
are?"
"My present plans, my lord? Indeed, I've no plans!--It's a long time
since I had a plan of my own. I am, however, prepared to acquiesce
entirely in any which you may propose. I have come quite prepared to
throw at Miss Wyndham's feet myself and my fortune."
"And do you expect her to accept you?"
"You said she would, my lord: so I have taken that for granted. I, at
any rate, will ask her; if she refuses me, your lordship will perhaps
be able to persuade her to a measure so evidently beneficial to all
parties."
"The persuading must be with yourself; but if you suppose you can carry
her with a high hand, without giving yourself the trouble to try to
please her, you are very much mistaken. If you think she'll accept you
merely because you ask her, you might save yourself the trouble, and as
well return to London at once."
"Just as you please, my lord; but I thought I came in obedience to your
express wishes."
"So you did; but, to tell you the truth--your manner in coming is very
different from what I would wish it to be. Your--"
"Did you want me to crawl here on my hands and knees?"
"I wanted you to come, Kilcullen, with some sense of what you owe to
those who are endeavouring to rescue you from ruin: with some feeling
of, at any rate, sorrow for the mad extravagance of your past career.
Instead of that, you come gay, reckless, and unconcerned as ever; you
pick up the first jovial companion you meet, and with him disturb the
house at a most unseasonable hour. You are totally regardless of the
appointments you make; and plainly show, that as you come here solely
for your own pleasure, you consider it needless to consult my wishes
or my comfort. Are you aware that you kept your mother and myself two
hours waiting for dinner yesterday?"
The pathos with which Lord Cashel terminated his speech--and it was one
the thrilling effect of which he intended to be overwhelming--almost
restored Lord Kilcullen to his accustomed effrontery.
"My lord," he said, "I did not consider myself of sufficient importance
to have delayed your dinner ten minutes."
"I have always endeavoured, Kilcullen, to show the same respect to you
in my house, which my father showed to me in his; but you do not allow
me the opportunity. But let that pass; we have more important things to
speak of. When last we were here together why did you not tell me the
whole truth?"
"What truth, my lord?"
"About your debts, Kilcullen: why did you conceal from me their full
amount? Why, at any rate, did you take pains to make me think them so
much less than they really are?"
"Conceal, my lord?--that is hardly fair, considering that I told you
expressly I could not give you any idea what was the amount I owed. I
concealed nothing; if you deceived yourself, the fault was not mine."
"You could not but have known that the claims against you were much
larger than I supposed them to be--double, I suppose. Good heaven!--why
in ten years more, at this rate, you would more than consume the fee
simple of the whole property! What can I say to you, Kilcullen, to make
you look on your own conduct in the proper light?"
"I think you have said enough for the purpose; you have told me to
marry, and I have consented to do so."
"Do you think, Kilcullen, you have spent the last eight years in a way
which it can please a father to contemplate? Do you think I can look
back on your conduct with satisfaction or content? And yet you have no
regret to express for the past--no promises to make for the future. I
fear it is all in vain. I fear that what I am doing what I am striving
to do, is now all in vain. I fear it is hopeless to attempt to recall
you from the horrid, reckless, wicked mode of life you have adopted."
The sombre mantle of expostulatory eloquence had now descended on the
earl, and he continued, turning full upon his victim, and raising and
lowering his voice with monotonous propriety.--"I fear it is to no
good purpose that I am subjecting your mother and myself to privation,
restraint, and inconvenience; that I am straining every nerve to place
you again in a position of respectability, a position suitable to my
fortune and your own rank. I am endeavouring to retrieve the desperate
extravagance--the--I must say--though I do not wish to hurt your
feelings, yet I must say, disgraceful ruin of your past career. And how
do you help me? what regret do you show? what promises of amendment do
you afford? You drive up to my hall-door at midnight with your boon
companion; you disturb the whole household at most unseasonable hours,
and subject my family to the same disreputable irregularity in which
you have yourself so long indulged. Can such doings, Kilcullen, give me
any hopes for the future? Can--"
"My lord--I am extremely sorry for the dinner: what can I say more? And
as for Mat Tierney, he is your own guest or her ladyship's--not mine.
It is my misfortune to have come in the same carriage with him, but
that is the extent of my offence."
"Well, Kilcullen; if you think your conduct has always been such as it
ought to be, it is of little use for me to bring up arguments to the
contrary."
"I don't think so, my lord. What can I say more? I have done
those things which I ought not to have done. Were I to confess my
transgressions for the hour together, I could not say more; except that
I have left undone the things which I ought to have done. Or, do you
want me to beat my breast and tear my hair?"
"I want you, Lord Kilcullen, to show some sense of decency--some filial
respect."
"Well, my lord, here I am, prepared to marry a wife of your own
choosing, and to set about the business this morning, if you please. I
thought you would have called that decent, filial, and respectable."
The earl could hardly gainsay this; but still he could not bring
himself to give over so soon the unusual pleasure of blowing up his
only son. It was so long since Lord Kilcullen had been regularly
in his power, and it might never occur again. So he returned from
consideration of the future to a further retrospect on the past.
"You certainly have played your cards most foolishly; you have thrown
away your money--rather, I should say, my money, in a manner which
nothing can excuse or palliate. You might have made the turf a source
of gratifying amusement; your income was amply sufficient to enable
you to do so; but you have possessed so little self-control, so little
judgment, so little discrimination, that you have allowed yourself
to be plundered by every blackleg, and robbed by every--everybody in
short, who chose to rob you. The same thing has been the case in all
your other amusements and pursuits--"
"Well, my lord, I confess it all; isn't that enough?"
"Enough, Kilcullen!" said the earl, in a voice of horrified
astonishment, "how enough?--how can anything be enough after such a
course--so wild, so mad, so ruinous!"
"For Heaven's sake, my lord, finish the list of my iniquities, or
you'll make me feel that I am utterly unfit to become my cousin's
husband."
"I fear you are--indeed I fear you are. Are the horses disposed of yet,
Kilcullen?"
"Indeed they are not, my lord; nor can I dispose of them. There is more
owing for them than they are worth; you may say they belong to the
trainer now."
"Is the establishment in Curzon Street broken up?"
"To tell the truth, not exactly; but I've no thoughts of returning
there. I'm still under rent for the house."
The cross-examination was continued for a considerable time--till the
earl had literally nothing more to say, and Lord Kilcullen was so
irritated that he told his father he would not stand it any longer.
Then they went into money affairs, and the earl spoke despondingly
about ten thousands and twenty thousands, and the viscount somewhat
flippantly of fifty thousands and sixty thousands; and this was
continued till the earl felt that his son was too deep in the mire to
be pulled out, and the son thought that, deep as he was there, it would
be better to remain and wallow in it than undergo so disagreeable a
process as that to which his father subjected him in extricating him
from it. It was settled, however, that Mr. Jervis, Lord Cashel's
agent, should receive full authority to deal summarily in all matters
respecting the horses and their trainers, the house in Curzon Street,
and its inhabitants, and all other appendages and sources of expense
which Lord Kilcullen had left behind him; and that he, Kilcullen,
should at once commence his siege upon his cousin's fortune. And on
this point the son bargained that, as it would be essentially necessary
that his spirits should be light and easy, he was not, during
the operation, to be subjected to any of his father's book-room
conversations: for this he stipulated as an absolute _sine quâ non_
in the negotiation, and the clause was at last agreed to, though not
without much difficulty.
Both father and son seemed to think that the offer should be made at
once. Lord Cashel really feared that his son would be arrested at Grey
Abbey, and he was determined to pay nothing further for him, unless
he felt secure of Fanny's fortune; and whatever were Lord Kilcullen's
hopes and fears as to his future lot, he was determined not to remain
long in suspense, as far as his projected marriage was concerned. He
was determined to do his best to accomplish it, for he would have done
anything to get the command of ready money; if he was not successful,
at any rate he need not remain in the purgatory of Grey Abbey. The
Queen's Bench would be preferable to that. He was not, however, very
doubtful; he felt but little confidence in the constancy of any woman's
affection, and a great deal in his own powers of fascination: he had
always been successful in his appeals to ladies' hearts, and did not
doubt of being so now, when the object of his adoration must, as he
thought, be so dreadfully in want of some excitement, something to
interest her. Any fool might have her now, thought he, and she can't
have any violent objection to being Lady Kilcullen for the present, and
Lady Cashel in due time. He felt, however, something like remorse at
the arrangement to which he was a party; it was not that he was about
to make a beautiful creature, his own cousin, miserable for life, by
uniting her to a spendthrift, a _roué_, and a gambler--such was the
natural lot of women in the higher ranks of life--but he felt that
he was robbing her of her money. He would have thought it to be no
disgrace to carry her off had another person been her guardian. She
would then have had fair play, and it would be the guardian's fault if
her fortune were not secure. But she had no friend now to protect her:
it was her guardian himself who was betraying her to ruin.
However, the money must be had, and Lord Kilcullen was not long in
quieting his conscience.
"Tierney," said Kilcullen, meeting his friend after his escape from the
book-room; "you are not troubled with a father now, I believe;--do you
recollect whether you ever had one?"
"Well, I can't say I remember just at present," said Mat; "but I
believe I had a sort of one, once."
"I'm a more dutiful son than you," said the other; "I never can forget
mine. I have no doubt an alligator on the banks of the Nile is a
fearful creature--a shark when one's bathing, or a jungle tiger when
one's out shooting, ought, I'm sure, to be avoided; but no creature
yet created, however hungry, or however savage, can equal in ferocity
a governor who has to shell out his cash! I've no wish for a
_tête-à-tête_ with any bloody-minded monster; but I'd sooner meet a
starved hyena, single-handed in the desert, than be shut up for another
hour with my Lord Cashel in that room of his on the right-hand side
of the hall. If you hear of my having beat a retreat from Grey Abbey,
without giving you or any one else warning of my intention, you will
know that I have lacked courage to comply with a second summons to
those gloomy realms. If I receive another invite such as that I got
this morning, I am off."
Lady Cashel's guests came on the day appointed; the carriages were
driven up, one after another, in quick succession, about an hour before
dinner-time; and, as her ladyship's mind became easy on the score of
disappointments, it was somewhat troubled as to the multitude of people
to be fed and entertained. Murray had not yet forgiven the injury
inflicted on him when the family dinner was kept waiting for Lord
Kilcullen, and Richards was still pouting at her own degraded position.
The countess had spent the morning pretending to make arrangements,
which were in fact all settled by Griffiths; and when she commenced
the operation of dressing herself, she declared she was so utterly
exhausted by what she had gone through during the last week, as to be
entirely unfit to entertain her company. Poor dear Lady Cashel! Was she
so ignorant of her own nature as to suppose it possible that she should
ever entertain anybody?
However, a glass of wine, and some mysterious drops, and a little
paint; a good deal of coaxing, the sight of her diamonds, and of a
large puce-coloured turban, somewhat revivified her; and she was in her
drawing-room in due time, supported by Lady Selina and Fanny, ready to
receive her visitors as soon as they should descend from their
respective rooms.
Lady Cashel had already welcomed Lord George, and shaken hands with the
bishop: and was now deep in turnips and ten-pound freeholders with the
gouty colonel, who had hobbled into the room on a pair of crutches, and
was accommodated with two easy chairs in a corner--one for himself, and
the other for his feet.
"Now, my dear Lady George," said the countess, "you must not think of
returning to Mountains tonight: indeed, we made sure of you and Lord
George for a week."
"My dear Lady Cashel, it's impossible; indeed, we wished it of all
things, and tried it every way: but we couldn't manage it; Lord George
has so much to do: there's the Sessions to-morrow at Dunlavin, and he
has promised to meet Sir Glenmalure Aubrey, about a road, or a river,
or a bridge--I forget which it is; and they must attend to those
things, you know, or the tenants couldn't get their corn to market. But
you don't know how sorry we are, and such a charming set you have got
here!"
"Well, I know it's no use pressing you; but I can't tell you how vexed
I am, for I counted on you, above all, and Adolphus will be so sorry.
You know Lord Kilcullen's come home, Lady George?"
"Yes; I was very glad to hear we were to meet him."
"Oh, yes! He's come to stay here some time, I believe; he's got quite
fond of Grey Abbey lately. He and his father get on so well together,
it's quite a delight to me."
"Oh, it must be, I'm sure," said Lady George; and the countess sidled
off to the bishop's fat wife.
"Well, this is very kind of you and the bishop, to come at so short a
notice: indeed I hardly dared expect it. I know he has so much to do in
Dublin with those horrid boards and things."
"He is busy there, to be sure, Lady Cashel; but he couldn't deny
himself the pleasure of coming to Grey Abbey; he thinks so very much
of the earl. Indeed, he'd contrive to be able to come here, when he
couldn't think of going anywhere else."
"I'm sure Lord Cashel feels how kind he is; and so do I, and so does
Adolphus. Lord Kilcullen will be delighted to meet you and the bishop."
The bishop's wife assured the countess that nothing on earth, at the
present moment, would give the bishop so much pleasure as meeting Lord
Kilcullen.
"You know the bishop christened him, don't you?" said Lady Cashel.
"No! did he though?" said the bishop's wife; "how very interesting!"
"Isn't it? And Adolphus longs to meet him. He's so fond of everything
that's high-minded and talented, Adolphus is: a little sarcastic
perhaps--I don't mind saying so to you; but that's only to inferior
sort of people--not talented, you know: some people are stupid, and
Adolphus can't bear that."
"Indeed they are, my lady. I was dining last week at Mrs. Prijean's, in
Merrion Square; you know Mrs. Prijean?"
"I think I met her at Carton, four years ago."
"Well, she is very heavy: what do you think, Lady Cashel, she--"
"Adolphus can't bear people of that sort, but he'll be delighted with
the bishop: it's so delightful, his having christened him. Adolphus
means to live a good deal here now. Indeed, he and his father have so
much in common that they can't get on very well apart, and I really
hope he and the bishop'll see a good deal of each other;" and the
countess left the bishop's wife and sat herself down by old Mrs.
Ellison.
"My dear Mrs. Ellison, I am so delighted to see you once again at Grey
Abbey; it's such ages since you were here!"
"Indeed it is, Lady Cashel, a very long time; but the poor colonel
suffers so much, it's rarely he's fit to be moved; and, indeed, I'm not
much better myself. I was not able to move my left shoulder from a week
before Christmas-day till a few days since!"
"You don't say so! Rheumatism, I suppose?"
"Oh, yes--all rheumatism: no one knows what I suffer."
"And what do you use for it?"
"Oh, there's nothing any use. I know the very nature of rheumatism now,
I've had it so long--and it minds nothing at all: there's no preventing
it, and no curing it. It's like a bad husband, Lady Cashel; the best
way is to put up with it."
"And how is the dear colonel, Mrs. Ellison?"
"Why, he was just able to come here, and that was all; but he was dying
to see Lord Cashel. He thinks the ministers'll be shaken about this
business of O'Connell's; and if so, that there'll be a general
election, and then what'll they do about the county?"
"I'm sure Lord Cashel wanted to see the colonel on that very subject;
so does Adolphus--Lord Kilcullen, you know. I never meddle with
those things; but I really think Adolphus is thinking of going into
Parliament. You know he's living here at present: his father's views
and his own are so exactly the same on all those sort of things, that
it's quite delightful. He's taking a deal of interest about the county
lately, is Adolphus, and about Grey Abbey too: he's just the same his
father used to be, and that kind of thing is so pleasant, isn't it, Mrs
Ellison?"
Mrs Ellison said it was, and at the same moment groaned, for her
shoulder gave her a twinge.
The subject of these eulogiums, in the meantime, did not make his
appearance till immediately before dinner was announced, and certainly
did not evince very strongly the delight which his mother had assured
her friends he would feel at meeting them, for he paid but very little
attention to any one but Mat Tierney and his cousin Fanny; he shook
hands with all the old gentlemen, bowed to all the old ladies, and
nodded at the young ones. But if he really felt that strong desire,
which his mother had imputed to him, of opening his heart to the bishop
and the colonel respecting things temporal and spiritual, he certainly
very successfully suppressed his anxiety.
He had, during the last two or three days, applied himself to the task
of ingratiating himself with Fanny. He well knew how to suit himself to
different characters, and to make himself agreeable when he pleased;
and Fanny, though she had never much admired her dissipated cousin,
certainly found his conversation a relief after the usual oppressive
tedium of Grey Abbey society.
He had not begun by making love to her, or expressing admiration, or
by doing or saying anything which could at all lead her to suspect his
purpose, or put her on her guard. He had certainly been much more
attentive to her, much more intimate with her, than he usually had been
in his flying visits to Grey Abbey; but then he was now making his
first appearance as a reformed rake; and besides, he was her first
cousin, and she therefore felt no inclination to repel his advances.
He was obliged, in performance of a domestic duty, to walk out to
dinner with one of Lady George's daughters, but he contrived to sit
next to Fanny--and, much to his father's satisfaction, talked to her
during the whole ceremony.
"And where have you hidden yourself all the morning, Fanny," said he,
"that nobody has seen anything of you since breakfast?"
"Whither have _you_ taken yourself all the day, rather, that you had
not a moment to come and look after us? The Miss O'Joscelyns have been
expecting you to ride with them, walk with them, talk with them, and
play _la grace_ with them. They didn't give up the sticks till it was
quite dark, in the hope of you and Mr Tierney making your appearance."
"Well, Fanny, don't tell my mother, and I'll tell you the truth:--
promise now."
"Oh, I'm no tell-tale."
"Well then," and he whispered into her ear--"I was running away from
the Miss O'Joscelyns."
"But that won't do at all; don't you know they were asked here for your
especial edification and amusement?"
"Oh, I know they were. So were the bishop, and the colonel, and Lord
George, and their respective wives, and Mr Hill. My dear mamma asked
them all here for my amusement; but, you know, one man may lead a horse
to water--a hundred can't make him drink. I cannot, cannot drink of the
Miss O'Joscelyns, and the Bishop of Maryborough."
"For shame, Adolphus! you ought at any rate to do something to amuse
them."
"Amuse them! My dear Fanny, who ever heard of amusing a bishop? But
it's very easy to find fault; what have you done, yourself, for their
amusement?"
"I didn't run away from them; though, had I done so, there would have
been more excuse for me than for you."
"So there would, Fanny," said Kilcullen, feeling that she had alluded
to her brother's death; "and I'm very, very sorry all these people are
here to bore you at such a time, and doubly sorry that they should have
been asked on my account. They mistake me greatly, here. They know that
I've thought Grey Abbey dull, and have avoided it; and now that I've
determined to get over the feeling, because I think it right to do so,
they make it ten times more unbearable than ever, for my gratification!
It's like giving a child physic mixed in sugar; the sugar's sure to be
the nastiest part of the dose. Indeed I have no dislike to Grey Abbey
at present; though I own I have no taste for the sugar in which my kind
mother has tried to conceal its proper flavour."
"Well, make the best of it; they'll all be gone in ten days."
"Ten days! Are they to stay ten days? Will you tell me, Fanny, what was
the object in asking Mat Tierney to meet such a party?"
"To help you to amuse the young ladies."
"Gracious heavens! Does Lady Cashel really expect Mat Tierney to play
_la grace_ with the Miss O'Joscelyns?--Well, the time will come to an
end, I suppose. But in truth I'm more sorry for you than for any one.
It was very ill-judged, their getting such a crowd to bore you at such
a time," and Lord Kilcullen contrived to give his voice a tone of
tender solicitude.
"Kilcullen," said the earl, across the table, "you don't hear the
bishop. His lordship is asking you to drink wine with him."
"I shall be most proud of the honour," said the son, and bobbed his
head at the bishop across the table.
Fanny was on the point of saying something respecting her brother to
Lord Kilcullen, which would have created a kind of confidence between
them, but the bishop's glass of wine broke it off, and from that time
Lord Kilcullen was forced by his father into a general conversation
with his guests.
In the evening there was music and singing. The Miss O'Joscelyns, and
Miss Fitzgeralds, and Mr Hill, performed: even Mat Tierney condescended
to amuse the company by singing the "Coronation", first begging the
bishop to excuse the peculiar allusions to the "_clargy_", contained
in one of the verses; and then Fanny was asked to sing. She had again
become silent, dull, and unhappy, was brooding over her miseries and
disappointments, and she declined. Lord Kilcullen was behind her chair,
and when they pressed her, he whispered to her, "Don't sing for them,
Fanny; it's a shame that they should tease you at such a time; I wonder
how my mother can have been so thoughtless."
Fanny persisted in declining to sing--and Lord Kilcullen again sat
down beside her. "Don't trouble yourself about them, Fanny," said he,
"they're just fit to sing to each other; it's very good work for them."
"I should think it very good work, as you call it, for myself, too,
another time; only I'm hardly in singing humour at present, and,
therefore, obliged to you for your assistance and protection."
"Your most devoted knight as long as this fearful invasion lasts!--your
Amadis de Gaul--your Bertrand du Guesclin [45]! And no paladin of old
ever attempted to defend a damsel from more formidable foes."
[FOOTNOTE 45: Amadis . . . du Guesclin--mediaeval heroes. Amadis
de Gaul was the title hero of a 14th century
romantic novel, probably first written in Spanish,
which was popular throughout Europe. Bertrand du
Guesclin was a historical figure, a fourteenth
century French soldier and Marshall of France.]
"Indeed, Adolphus, I don't think them so formidable. Many of them are
my own friends."
"Is Mrs Ellison your own friend?--or Mrs Moore?"
"Not exactly those two, in particular."
"Who then? Is it Miss Judith O'Joscelyn? or is the Reverend Mr Hill one
of those to whom you give that sweetest of all names?"
"Yes; to both of them. It was only this morning I had a long
_tête-à-tête_--"
"What, with Mr Hill?"
"No, not with Mr Hill though it wouldn't be the first even with him,
but with Judith O'Joscelyn. I lent her a pattern for worsted work."
"And does that make her your friend? Do you give your friendship so
easily?"
"You forget that I've known her for years."
"Well, now, I've not. I've seen her about three times in my life,
and spoken two words to her perhaps twice; and yet I'll describe her
character to you; and if you can say that the description is incorrect,
I will permit you to call her your friend."
"Well, let's hear the character."
"It wouldn't be kind in me, though, to laugh at your _friend_."
"Oh, she's not so especially and particularly my friend that you need
mind that."
"Then you'll promise not to be angry?"
"Oh no, I won't be angry."
"Well, then; she has two passions: they are for worsted and hymn-books.
She has a moral objection to waltzing. Theoretically she disapproves of
flirtations: she encourages correspondence between young ladies; always
crosses her letters, and never finished one for the last ten years
without expressing entire resignation to the will of God,--as if she
couldn't be resigned without so often saying so. She speaks to her
confidential friends of young men as a very worthless, insignificant
race of beings; she is, however, prepared to take the very first that
may be unfortunate enough to come in her way; she has no ideas of
her own, but is quick enough at borrowing those of other people; she
considers herself a profound theologian; dotes on a converted papist,
and looks on a Puseyite [46] as something one shade blacker than the
devil. Now isn't that sufficiently like for a portrait?"
[FOOTNOTE 46: Puseyite--a follower of Edward Pusey (1800-1882),
one of three scholars at Oxford who started a
movement critical of the Church of England. One
of the three, John Henry Newman, converted to
Catholicism, and Pusey and his followers were
accused of advocating Catholic practices.]
"It's the portrait of a set, I fear, rather than an individual. I don't
know that it's particularly like Miss O'Joscelyn, except as to the
worsted and hymn-books."
"What, not as to the waltzing, resignation, and worthless young men?
Come, are they not exactly her traits? Does she waltz?"
"No, she does not."
"And haven't you heard her express a moral objection to it?"
"Well, I believe I have."
"Did you ever get a letter from her, or see a letter of hers?"
"I don't remember; yes, I did once, a long time ago."
"And wasn't she very resigned in it?"
"Well, I declare I believe she was; and it's very proper too; people
ought to be resigned."
"Oh, of course. And now doesn't she love a convert and hate a
Puseyite?"
"All Irish clergyman's daughters do that."
"Well, Fanny, you can't say but that it was a good portrait; and after
that, will you pretend to say you call Miss O'Joscelyn your friend?"
"Not my very friend of friends; but, as friends go, she's as good as
most others."
"And who is the friend of friends, Fanny?"
"Come, you're not my father confessor. I'm not to tell you all. If I
told you that, you'd make another portrait."
"I'm sure I couldn't draw a disparaging picture of anybody you would
really call your friend. But indeed I pity you, living among so many
such people. There can be nobody here who understands you."
"Oh, I'm not very unintelligible."
"Much more so than Miss O'Joscelyn. I shouldn't wish to have to draw
your portrait."
"Pray don't; if it were frightful I should think you uncivil; and if
you made it handsome, I should know you were flattering. Besides, you
don't know enough of me to tell me my character."
"I think I do; but I'll study it a little more before I put it on the
canvass. Some likenesses are very hard to catch."
Fanny felt, when she went to bed, that she had spent a pleasanter
evening than she usually did, and that it was a much less nuisance
to talk to her cousin Adolphus than to either his father, mother, or
sister; and as she sat before her fire, while her maid was brushing
her hair, she began to think that she had mistaken his character, and
that he couldn't be the hard, sensual, selfish man for which she had
taken him. Her ideas naturally fell back to Frank and her love, her
difficulties and sorrows; and, before she went to sleep, she had almost
taught herself to think that she might make Lord Kilcullen the means of
bringing Lord Ballindine back to Grey Abbey.
She had, to be sure, been told that her cousin had spoken ill of Frank;
that it was he who had been foremost in decrying Lord Ballindine's
folly and extravagance; but she had never heard him do so; she had
only heard of it through Lord Cashel; and she quite ceased to believe
anything her guardian might say respecting her discarded lover. At any
rate she would try. Some step she was determined to take about Lord
Ballindine; and, if her cousin refused to act like a cousin and a
friend, she would only be exactly where she was before.
XXXI. THE TWO FRIENDS
The next three days passed slowly and tediously for most of the guests
assembled at Grey Abbey. Captain Cokely, and a Mr Battersby, came over
from Newbridge barracks, but they did not add much to the general
enjoyment of the party, though their arrival was hailed with delight
by some of the young ladies. At any rate they made the rooms look less
forlorn in the evenings, and made it worth the girls' while to put on
their best bibs and tuckers.
"But what's the use of it at all?" said Matilda Fitzgerald to little
Letty O'Joscelyn, when she had spent three-quarters of an hour in
adjusting her curls, and setting her flounces properly, on the evening
before the arrival of the two cavalry officers; "not a soul to look at
us but a crusty old colonel, a musty old bishop, and a fusty old beau!"
"Who's the old beau?" said Letty.
"Why, that Mr Tierney. I can't conceive how Lady Cashel can have asked
us to meet such a set," and Matilda descended, pouting, and out of
humour.
But on the next day she went through her work much more willingly, if
not more carefully.
"That Captain Cokely's a very nice fellow," said Matilda; "the best of
that Newbridge set, out and out."
"Well now, I really think he's not so nice as Mr Battersby," said
Letty. "I'm sure he's not so good-looking."
"Oh, Battersby's only a boy. After all, Letty, I don't know whether I
like officers so much better than other men,"--and she twisted her neck
round to get a look at her back in the pier-glass, and gave her dress a
little pull just above her bustle.
"I'm sure I do," said Letty; "they've so much more to say for
themselves, and they're so much smarter."
"Why, yes, they are smarter," said Matilda; "and there's nothing on
earth so dowdy as an old black coat, But, then, officers are always
going away: you no sooner get to know one or two of a set, and to
feel that one of them is really a darling fellow, but there, they are
off--to Jamaica, China, Hounslow barracks, or somewhere; and then it's
all to do over again."
"Well, I do wish they wouldn't move them about quite so much."
"But let's go down. I think I'll do now, won't I?" and they descended,
to begin the evening campaign.
"Wasn't Miss Wyndham engaged to some one?" said old Mrs Ellison to Mrs
Moore. "I'm sure some one told me so."
"Oh, yes, she was," said Mrs Moore; "the affair was settled, and
everything arranged; but the man was very poor, and a gambler,--Lord
Ballindine: he has the name of a property down in Mayo somewhere; but
when she got all her brother's money, Lord Cashel thought it a pity to
sacrifice it,--so he got her out of the scrape. A very good thing for
the poor girl, for they say he's a desperate scamp."
"Well, I declare I think," said Mrs Ellison, "she'll not have far to
look for another."
"What, you think there's something between her and Lord Kilcullen?"
said Mrs Moore.
"It looks like it, at any rate, don't it?" said Mrs Ellison.
"Well, I really think it does," said Mrs Moore; "I'm sure I'd be very
glad of it. I know he wants money desperately, and it would be such a
capital thing for the earl."
"At any rate, the lady does not look a bit unwilling," said Mrs
Ellison. "I suppose she's fond of rakish young men. You say Lord
Ballindine was of that set; and I'm sure Lord Kilcullen's the
same,--he has the reputation, at any rate. They say he and his father
never speak, except just in public, to avoid the show of the thing."
And the two old ladies set to work to a good dish of scandal.
"Miss Wyndham's an exceedingly fine girl," said Captain Cokely to
Mat Tierney, as they were playing a game of piquet in the little
drawing-room.
"Yes," said Mat; "and she's a hundred thousand exceedingly fine charms
too, independently of her fine face."
"So I hear," said Cokely; "but I only believe half of what I hear about
those things."
"She has more than that; I know it."
"Has she though? Faith, do you know I think Kilcullen has a mind to
keep it in the family. He's very soft on her, and she's just as sweet
to him. I shouldn't be surprised if he were to marry now, and turn
steady."
"Not at all; there are two reasons against it. In the first place, he's
too much dipped for even Fanny's fortune to be any good to him; and
secondly, she's engaged."
"What, to Ballindine?" said Cokely.
"Exactly so," said Mat.
"Ah, my dear fellow, that's all off long since. I heard Kilcullen say
so myself. I'll back Kilcullen to marry her against Ballindine for a
hundred pounds."
"Done," said Mat; and the bet was booked.
The same evening, Tierney wrote to Dot Blake, and said in a postscript,
"I know you care for Ballindine; so do I, but I don't write to him.
If he really wants to secure his turtle-dove, he should see that she
doesn't get bagged in his absence. Kilcullen is here, and I tell you
he's a keen sportsman. They say it's quite up with him in London, and
I should be sorry she were sacrificed: she seems a nice girl."
Lord Kilcullen had ample opportunities of forwarding his intimacy with
Fanny, and he did not neglect them. To give him his due, he played his
cards as well as his father could wish him. He first of all overcame
the dislike with which she was prepared to regard him; he then
interested her about himself; and, before he had been a week at Grey
Abbey, she felt that she had a sort of cousinly affection for him. He
got her to talk with a degree of interest about himself; and when he
could do that, there was no wonder that Tierney should have fears for
his friend's interests. Not that there was any real occasion for them.
Fanny Wyndham was not the girl to be talked out of, or into, a real
passion, by anyone.
"Now, tell me the truth, Fanny," said Kilcullen, as they were sitting
over the fire together in the library, one dark afternoon, before they
went to dress for dinner; "hadn't you been taught to look on me as a
kind of ogre--a monster of iniquity, who spoke nothing but oaths, and
did nothing but sin?"
"Not exactly that: but I won't say I thought you were exactly just what
you ought to be."
"But didn't you think I was exactly what I ought not to have been?
Didn't you imagine, now, that I habitually sat up all night, gambling,
and drinking buckets of champagne and brandy-and-water? And that I lay
in bed all day, devising iniquity in my dreams? Come now, tell the
truth, and shame the devil; if I am the devil, I know people have made
me out to be."
"Why, really, Adolphus, I never calculated how your days and nights
were spent. But if I am to tell the truth, I fear some of them might
have been passed to better advantage."
"Which of us, Fanny, mightn't, with truth, say the same of ourselves?"
"Of course, none of us," said Fanny; "don't think I'm judging you; you
asked me the question,--and I suppose you wanted an answer."
"I did; I wanted a true one--for though you may never have given
yourself much trouble to form an opinion about me, I am anxious that
you should do so now. I don't want to trouble you with what is done and
past; I don't want to make it appear that I have not been thoughtless
and imprudent--wicked and iniquitous, if you are fond of strong terms;
neither do I want to trouble you with confessing all my improprieties,
that I may regularly receive absolution. But I do wish you to believe
that I have done nothing which should exclude me from your future good
opinion; from your friendship and esteem."
"I am not of an unforgiving temperament, even had you done anything for
me to forgive: but I am not aware that you have."
"No; nothing for you to forgive, in the light of an offence to
yourself; but much, perhaps, to prevent your being willing to regard
me as a personal friend. We're not only first cousins, Fanny, but are
placed more closely together than cousins usually are. You have neither
father nor mother; now, also, you have no brother," and he took her
hands in his own as he said so. "Who should be a brother to you, if I
am not? who, at any rate, should you look on as a friend, if not on me?
Nobody could be better, I believe, than Selina; but she is stiff, and
cold--unlike you in everything. I should be so happy if I could be the
friend--the friend of friends you spoke of the other evening; if I
could fill the place which must be empty near your heart. I can never
be this to you, if you believe that anything in my past life has been
really disgraceful. It is for this reason that I want to know what you
truly think of me. I won't deny that I am anxious you should think well
of me:--well, at any rate for the present, and the future, and
charitably as regards the past."
Fanny had been taken much by surprise by the turn her cousin had given
to the conversation; and was so much affected, that, before he had
finished, she was in tears. She had taken her hand out of his, to put
her handkerchief to her eyes, and as she did not immediately answer, he
continued:
"I shall probably be much here for some time to come--such, at least,
are my present plans; and I hope that while I am, we shall become
friends: not such friends, Fanny, as you and Judith O'Joscelyn--friends
only of circumstance, who have neither tastes, habits, or feelings
in common--friends whose friendship consists in living in the same
parish, and meeting each other once or twice a week; but friends in
reality--friends in confidence--friends in mutual dependence--friends
in love--friends, dear Fanny, as cousins situated as we are should be
to each other."
Fanny's heart was very full, for she felt how much, how desperately,
she wanted such a friend as Kilcullen described. How delightful it
would be to have such a friend, and to find him in her own cousin! The
whole family, hitherto, were so cold to her--so uncongenial. The earl
she absolutely disliked; she loved her aunt, but it was only because
she was her aunt--she couldn't like her; and though she loved Lady
Selina, and, to a degree, admired her, it was like loving a marble
figure. There was more true feeling in what Kilcullen had now said to
her, than in all that had fallen from the whole family for the four
years she had lived at Grey Abbey, and she could not therefore but
close on the offer of his affection.
"Shall we be such friends, then?" said he; "or, after all, am I too
bad? Have I too much of the taint of the wicked world to be the friend
of so pure a creature as you?"
"Oh no, Adolphus; I'm sure I never thought so," said she. "I never
judged you, and indeed I am not disposed to do so now. I'm too much in
want of kindness to reject yours,--even were I disposed to do so, which
I am not."
"Then, Fanny, we are to be friends--true, loving, trusting friends?"
"Oh, yes!" said Fanny. "I am really, truly grateful for your affection
and kindness. I know how precious they are, and I will value them
accordingly."
Again Lord Kilcullen took her hand, and pressed it in his; and then he
kissed it, and told her she was his own dear cousin Fanny; and then
recommended her to go and dress, which she did. He sat himself down for
a quarter of an hour, ruminating, and then also went off to dress; but,
during that quarter of an hour, very different ideas passed through his
mind, than such as those who knew him best would have given him credit
for.
In the first place, he thought that he really began to feel an
affection for his cousin Fanny, and to speculate whether it were
absolutely within the verge of possibility that he should marry
her--retrieve his circumstances--treat her well, and live happily for
the rest of his life as a respectable nobleman.
For two or three minutes the illusion remained, till it was banished by
retrospection. It was certainly possible that he should marry her: it
was his full intention to do so: but as to retrieving his circumstances
and treating her well!--the first was absolutely impossible--the other
nearly so; and as to his living happily at Grey Abbey as a family man,
he yawned as he felt how impossible it would be that he should spend a
month in such a way, let alone a life. But then Fanny Wyndham was so
beautiful, so lively, so affectionate, so exactly what a cousin and a
wife ought to be: he could not bear to think that all his protestations
of friendship and love had been hypocritical; that he could only look
upon her as a gudgeon, and himself as a bigger fish, determined to
swallow her! Yet such must be his views regarding her. He departed to
dress, absolutely troubled in his conscience.
And what were Fanny's thoughts about her cousin? She was much surprised
and gratified, but at the same time somewhat flustered and overwhelmed,
by the warmth and novelty of his affection. However, she never for a
moment doubted his truth towards her, or had the slightest suspicion of
his real object. Her chief thought was whether she could induce him to
be a mediator for her, between Lord Cashel and Lord Ballindine.
During the next two days he spoke to her a good deal about her
brother--of whom, by-the-bye, he had really known nothing. He
contrived, however, to praise him as a young man of much spirit and
great promise; then he spoke of her own large fortune, asked her what
her wishes were about its investment, and told her how happy he would
be to express those wishes at once to Lord Cashel, and to see that they
were carried out. Once or twice she had gradually attempted to lead the
conversation to Lord Ballindine, but Kilcullen was too crafty, and had
prevented her; and she had not yet sufficient courage to tell him at
once what was so near her heart.
"Fanny," said Lady Selina, one morning, about a week after the general
arrival of the company at Grey Abbey, and when some of them had taken
their departure, "I am very glad to see you have recovered your
spirits: I know you have made a great effort, and I appreciate and
admire it."
"Indeed, Selina, I fear you are admiring me too soon. I own I have
been amused this week past, and, to a certain degree, pleased; but I
fear you'll find I shall relapse. There's been no radical reform; my
thoughts are all in the same direction as they were."
"But the great trial in this world is to behave well and becomingly
in spite of oppressive thoughts: and it always takes a struggle to do
that, and that struggle you've made. I hope it may lead you to feel
that you may be contented and in comfort without having everything
which you think necessary to your happiness. I'm sure I looked forward
to this week as one of unmixed trouble and torment; but I was very
wrong to do so. It has given me a great deal of unmixed satisfaction."
"I'm very glad of that, Selina, but what was it? I'm sure it could not
have come from poor Mrs Ellison, or the bishop's wife; and you seemed
to me to spend all your time in talking to them. Virtue, they say, is
its own reward: I don't know what other satisfaction you can have had
from them."
"In the first place, it has given me great pleasure to see that you
were able to exert yourself in company, and that the crowd of people
did not annoy you: but I have chiefly been delighted by seeing that you
and Adolphus are such good friends. You must think, Fanny, that I am
anxious about an only brother--especially when we have all had so much
cause to be anxious about him; and don't you think it must be a delight
to me to find that he is able to take pleasure in your society? I
should be doubly pleased, doubly delighted, if I could please him
myself. But I have not the vivacity to amuse him."
"What nonsense, Selina! Don't say that."
"But it's true, Fanny; I have not; and Grey Abbey has become
distasteful to him because we are all sedate, steady people. Perhaps
some would call us dull, and heavy; and I have grieved that it should
be so, though I cannot alter my nature; but you are so much the
contrary--there is so much in your character like his own, before he
became fond of the world, that I feel he can become attached to and
fond of you; and I am delighted to see that he thinks so himself. What
do you think of him, now that you have seen more of him than you ever
did before?"
"Indeed," said Fanny, "I like him very much."
"He is very clever, isn't he? He might have been anything if he had
given himself fair play. He seems to have taken greatly to you."
"Oh yes; we are great friends:" and then Fanny paused--"so great
friends," she continued, looking somewhat gravely in Lady Selina's
face, "that I mean to ask the greatest favour of him that I could ask
of anyone: one I am sure I little dreamed I should ever ask of him."
"What is it, Fanny? Is it a secret?"
"Indeed it is, Selina; but it's a secret I will tell you. I mean to
tell him all I feel about Lord Ballindine, and I mean to ask him to see
him for me. Adolphus has offered to be a brother to me, and I mean to
take him at his word."
Lady Selina turned very pale, and looked very grave as she replied,
"That is not giving him a brother's work, Fanny. A brother should
protect you from importunity and insult, from injury and wrong; and
that, I am sure, Adolphus would do: but no brother would consent to
offer your hand to a man who had neglected you and been refused, and
who, in all probability, would now reject you with scorn if he has the
opportunity--or if not that, will take you for your money's sake. That,
Fanny, is not a brother's work; and it is an embassy which I am sure
Adolphus will not undertake. If you take my advice you will not ask
him."
As Lady Selina finished speaking she walked to the door, as if
determined to hear no reply from her cousin; but, as she was leaving
the room, she fancied that she heard her sobbing, and her heart
softened, and she again turned towards her and said, "God knows, Fanny,
I do not wish to be severe or ill-natured to you; I would do anything
for your comfort and happiness, but I cannot bear to think that
you should"--Lady Selina was puzzled for a word to express her
meaning--"that you should forget yourself," and she attempted to put
her arm round Fanny's waist.
But she was mistaken; Fanny was not sobbing, but was angry; and what
Selina now said about her forgetting herself, did not make her less so.
"No," she said, withdrawing herself from her cousin's embrace and
standing erect, while her bosom was swelling with indignation: "I
want no affection from you, Selina, that is accompanied by so much
disapprobation. You don't wish to be severe, only you say that I am
likely to forget myself. Forget myself!" and Fanny threw back her
beautiful head, and clenched her little fists by her side: "The other
day you said 'disgrace myself', and I bore it calmly then; but I will
not any longer bear such imputations. I tell you plainly, Selina, I
will not forget myself, nor will I be forgotten. Nor will I submit to
whatever fate cold, unfeeling people may doom me, merely because I am a
woman and alone. I will not give up Lord Ballindine, if I have to walk
to his door and tell him so. And were I to do so, I should never think
that I had forgotten myself."
"Listen to me, Fanny," said Selina.
"Wait a moment," continued Fanny, "I have listened enough: it is
my turn to speak now. For one thing I have to thank you: you have
dispelled the idea that I could look for help to anyone in this family.
I will not ask your brother to do anything for me which you think so
disgraceful. I will not subject him to the scorn with which you choose
to think my love will be treated by him who loved me so well. That you
should dare to tell me that he who did so much for my love should now
scorn it!--Oh, Selina, that I may live to forget that you said those
words!" and Fanny, for a moment, put her handkerchief to her eyes--but
it was but for a moment. "However," she continued, "I will now act for
myself. As you think I might forget myself, I tell you I will do it in
no clandestine way. I will write to Lord Ballindine, and I will show
my letter to my uncle. The whole house shall read it if they please. I
will tell Lord Ballindine all the truth--and if Lord Cashel turns me
from his house, I shall probably find some friend to receive me, who
may still believe that I have not forgotten myself." And Fanny Wyndham
sailed out of the room.
Lady Selina, when she saw that she was gone, sat down on the sofa and
took her book. She tried to make herself believe that she was going to
read; but it was no use: the tears dimmed her eyes, and she put the
book down.
The same evening the countess sent for Selina into her boudoir, and,
with a fidgety mixture of delight and surprise, told her that she had a
wonderful piece of good news to communicate to her.
"I declare, my dear," she said, "it's the most delightful thing I've
heard for years and years; and it's just exactly what I had planned
myself, only I never told anybody. Dear me; it makes me so happy!"
"What is it, mamma?"
"Your papa has been talking to me since dinner, my love, and he tells
me Adolphus is going to marry Fanny Wyndham."
"Going to marry whom?" said Lady Selina, almost with a shout.
"Fanny, I say: it's the most delightful match in the world: it's just
what ought to be done. I suppose they won't have the wedding before
summer; though May is a very nice month. Let me see; it only wants
three weeks to May."
"Mamma, what are you talking about?--you're dreaming."
"Dreaming, my dear? I'm not dreaming at all: it's a fact. Who'd've
thought of all this happening so soon, out of this party, which gave
us so much trouble! However, I knew your father was right. I said all
along that he was in the right to ask the people."
"Mamma," said Lady Selina, gravely, "listen to me: calmly now, and
attentively. I don't know what papa has told you; but I tell you Fanny
does not dream of marrying Adolphus. He has never asked her, and if he
did she would never accept him. Fanny is more than ever in love with
Lord Ballindine."
The countess opened her eyes wide, and looked up into her daughter's
face, but said nothing.
"Tell me, mamma, as nearly as you can recollect, what it is papa has
said to you, that, if possible, we may prevent mischief and misery.
Papa couldn't have said that Fanny had accepted Adolphus?"
"He didn't say exactly that, my dear; but he said that it was his wish
they should be married; that Adolphus was very eager for it, and that
Fanny had received his attentions and admiration with evident pleasure
and satisfaction. And so she has, my dear; you couldn't but have seen
that yourself."
"Well, mamma, what else did papa say?"
"Why, he said just what I'm telling you: that I wasn't to be surprised
if we were called on to be ready for the wedding at a short notice;
or at any rate to be ready to congratulate Fanny. He certainly didn't
say she had accepted him. But he said he had no doubt about it; and
I'm sure, from what was going on last week, I couldn't have any
doubt either. But he told me not to speak to anyone about it yet;
particularly not to Fanny; only, my dear, I couldn't help, you know,
talking it over with you;" and the countess leaned back in her chair,
very much exhausted with the history she had narrated.
"Now, mamma, listen to me. It is not many hours since Fanny told me she
was unalterably determined to throw herself at Lord Ballindine's feet."
"Goodness gracious me, how shocking!" said the countess.
"She even said that she would ask Adolphus to be the means of bringing
Lord Ballindine back to Grey Abbey."
"Lord have mercy!" said the countess.
"I only tell you this, mamma, to show you how impossible it is that
papa should be right."
"What are we to do, my dear? Oh, dear, there'll be such a piece of
work! What a nasty thing Fanny is. I'm sure she's been making love to
Adolphus all the week!"
"No, mamma, she has not. Don't be unfair to Fanny. If there is anyone
in fault it is Adolphus; but, as you say, what shall we do to prevent
further misunderstanding? I think I had better tell papa the whole."
And so she did, on the following morning. But she was too late; she did
not do it till after Lord Kilcullen had offered and had been refused.
XXXII. HOW LORD KILCULLEN FARES IN HIS WOOING
About twelve o'clock the same night, Lord Kilcullen and Mat Tierney
were playing billiards, and were just finishing their last game: the
bed-candles were lighted ready for them, and Tierney was on the point
of making the final hazard.
"So you're determined to go to-morrow, Mat?" said Kilcullen.
"Oh, yes, I'll go to-morrow: your mother'll take me for a second Paddy
Rea, else," said Mat.
"Who the deuce was Paddy Rea?"
"Didn't you ever hear of Paddy Rea?--Michael French of Glare
Abbey--he's dead now, but he was alive enough at the time I'm telling
you of, and kept the best house in county Clare--well, he was coming
down on the Limerick coach, and met a deuced pleasant, good-looking,
talkative sort of a fellow a-top of it. They dined and got a tumbler
of punch together at Roscrea; and when French got down at Bird Hill,
he told his acquaintance that if he ever found himself anywhere near
Ennis, he'd be glad to see him at Glare Abbey. He was a hospitable sort
of a fellow, and had got into a kind of way of saying the same thing
to everybody, without meaning anything except to be civil--just as
I'd wish a man good morning. Well, French thought no more about the
man, whose name he didn't even know; but about a fortnight afterwards,
a hack car from Ennis made its appearance at Glare Abbey, and the
talkative traveller, and a small portmanteau, had soon found their
way into the hail. French was a good deal annoyed, for he had some
fashionables in the house, but he couldn't turn the man out; so he
asked his name, and introduced Paddy Rea to the company. How long do
you think he stayed at Glare Abbey?"
"Heaven only knows!--Three months."
"Seventeen years!" said Mat. "They did everything to turn him out, and
couldn't do it. It killed old French; and at last his son pulled the
house down, and Paddy Rea went then, because there wasn't a roof to
cover him. Now I don't want to drive your father to pull down this
house, so I'll go to-morrow."
"The place is so ugly, that if you could make him do so, it would be an
advantage; but I'm afraid the plan wouldn't succeed, so I won't press
you. But if you go, I shan't remain long. If it was to save my life and
theirs, I can't get up small talk for the rector and his curate."
"Well, good night," said Mat; and the two turned off towards their
bed-rooms.
As they passed from the billiard-room through the hall, Lord Cashel
shuffled out of his room, in his slippers and dressing-gown.
"Kilcullen," said he, with a great deal of unconcerned good humour
affected in his tone, "just give me one moment--I've a word to say to
you. Goodnight, Mr Tierney, goodnight; I'm sorry to hear we're to lose
you to-morrow."
Lord Kilcullen shrugged his shoulders, winked at his friend and then
turned round and followed his father.
"It's only one word, Kilcullen," said the father, who was afraid of
angering or irritating his son, now that he thought he was in so fair a
way to obtain the heiress and her fortune. "I'll not detain you half a
minute;" and then he said in a whisper, "take my advice, Kilcullen, and
strike when the iron's hot."
"I don't quite understand you, my lord," said his son, affecting
ignorance of his father's meaning.
"I mean, you can't stand better than you do with Fanny: you've
certainly played your cards admirably, and she's a charming girl, a
very charming girl, and I long to know that she's your own. Take my
advice and ask her at once."
"My lord," said the dutiful son, "if I'm to carry on this affair, I
must be allowed to do it in my own way. You, I dare say, have more
experience than I can boast, and if you choose to make the proposal
yourself to Miss Wyndham on my behalf, I shall be delighted to leave
the matter in your hands; but in that case, I shall choose to be absent
from Grey Abbey. If you wish me to do it, you must let me do it when I
please and how I please."
"Oh, certainly, certainly, Kilcullen," said the earl; "I only want to
point out that I think you'll gain nothing by delay."
"Very well, my lord. Good night." And Lord Kilcullen went to bed, and
the father shuffled back to his study. He had had three different
letters that day from Lord Kilcullen's creditors, all threatening
immediate arrest unless he would make himself responsible for his son's
debts. No wonder that he was in a hurry, poor man!
And Lord Kilcullen, though he had spoken so coolly on the subject,
and had snubbed his father, was equally in a hurry. He also received
letters, and threats, and warnings, and understood, even better than
his father did, the perils which awaited him. He knew that he couldn't
remain at Grey Abbey another week; that in a day or two it wouldn't be
safe for him to leave the house; and that his only chance was at once
to obtain the promise of his cousin's hand, and then betake himself to
some place of security, till he could make her fortune available.
When Fanny came into the breakfast-room next morning, he asked her
to walk with him in the demesne after breakfast. During the whole
of the previous evening she had sat silent and alone, pretending to
read, although he had made two or three efforts to engage her in
conversation. She could not, however, refuse to walk with him, nor
could she quite forgive herself for wishing to do so. She felt that
her sudden attachment for him was damped by what had passed between
her and Lady Selina; but she knew, at the same time, that she was very
unreasonable for quarrelling with one cousin for what another had said.
She accepted his invitation, and shortly after breakfast went upstairs
to get ready. It was a fine, bright, April morning, though the air was
cold, and the ground somewhat damp; so she put on her boa and strong
boots, and sallied forth with Lord Kilcullen; not exactly in a good
humour, but still feeling that she could not justly be out of humour
with him. At the same moment, Lady Selina knocked at her father's door,
with the intention of explaining to him how impossible it was that
Fanny should be persuaded to marry her brother. Poor Lord Cashel! his
life, at that time, was certainly not a happy one.
The two cousins walked some way, nearly in silence. Fanny felt very
little inclined to talk, and even Kilcullen, with all his knowledge of
womankind--with all his assurance, had some difficulty in commencing
what he had to get said and done that morning.
"So Grey Abbey will once more sink into its accustomed dullness," said
he. "Cokely went yesterday, and Tierney and the Ellisons go to-day.
Don't you dread it, Fanny?"
"Oh, I'm used to it: besides, I'm one of the component elements of the
dullness, you know. I'm a portion of the thing itself: it's you that
must feel it."
"I feel it? I suppose I shall. But, as I told you before, the physic to
me was not nearly so nauseous as the sugar. I'm at any rate glad to get
rid of such sweetmeats as the bishop and Mrs Ellison;" and they were
both silent again for a while.
"But you're not a portion of the heaviness of Grey Abbey, Fanny," said
he, referring to what she had said. "You're not an element of its
dullness. I don't say this in flattery--I trust nothing so vile as
flattery will ever take place between us; but you know yourself that
your nature is intended for other things; that you were not born to
pass your life in such a house as this, without society, without
excitement, without something to fill your mind. Fanny, you can't be
happy here, at Grey Abbey."
Happy! thought Fanny to herself. No, indeed, I'm not happy! She didn't
say so, however; and Kilcullen, after a little while, went on speaking.
"I'm sure you can't be comfortable here. You don't feel it, I dare say,
so intolerable as I do; but still you have been out enough, enough in
the world, to feel strongly the everlasting do-nothingness of this
horrid place. I wonder what possesses my father, that he does not go
to London--for your sake if for no one else's. It's not just of him to
coop you up here."
"Indeed it is, Adolphus," said she. "You mistake my character. I'm not
at all anxious for London parties and gaiety. Stupid as you may think
me, I'm quite as well contented to stay here as I should be to go to
London."
"Do you mean me to believe," said Kilcullen, with a gentle laugh,
"that you are contented to live and die in single blessedness at Grey
Abbey?--that your ambition does not soar higher than the interchange of
worsted-work patterns with Miss O'Joscelyn?"
"I did not say so, Adolphus."
"What is your ambition then? what kind and style of life would you
choose to live? Come, Fanny, I wish I could get you to talk with me
about yourself. I wish I could teach you to believe how anxious I am
that your future life should be happy and contented, and at the same
time splendid and noble, as it should be. I'm sure you must have
ambition. I have studied Lavater [47] well enough to know that such
a head and face as yours never belonged to a mind that could satisfy
itself with worsted-work."
[FOOTNOTE 47: Lavater--Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741-1801),
Swiss writer whose only widely read book was a
tract on physiognomy (Physiognomische Fragmente
zur Beförderung der Menschenkenntnis und
Menschenliebe). The Victorians put much stock in
physiognomy.]
"You are very severe on the poor worsted-work."
"But am I not in the right?"
"Decidedly not. Lavater, and my head and face, have misled you."
"Nonsense, Fanny. Do you mean to tell me that you have no aspiration
for a kind of life different from this you are leading?--If so, I am
much disappointed in you; much, very much astray in my judgment of your
character." Then he walked on a few yards, looking on the ground, and
said, "Come, Fanny, I am talking very earnestly to you, and you answer
me only in joke. You don't think me impertinent, do you, to talk about
yourself?"
"Impertinent, Adolphus--of course I don't."
"Why won't you talk to me then, in the spirit in which I am talking to
you? If you knew, Fanny, how interested I am about you, how anxious
that you should be happy, how confidently I look forward to the
distinguished position I expect you to fill--if you could guess how
proud I mean to be of you, when you are the cynosure of all eyes--the
admired of all admirers--admired not more for your beauty than your
talent--if I could make you believe, Fanny, how much I expect from you,
and how fully I trust that my expectations will be realised, you would
not, at any rate, answer me lightly."
"Adolphus," said Fanny, "I thought there was to be no flattering
between us?"
"And do you think I would flatter you? Do you think I would stoop to
flatter you? Oh! Fanny, you don't understand me yet; you don't at all
understand, how thoroughly from the heart I'm speaking--how much in
earnest I am; and, so far from flattering you, I am quite as anxious
to find fault with you as I am to praise you, could I feel that I had
liberty to do so."
"Pray do," said Fanny: "anything but flattery; for a friend never
flatters."
But Kilcullen had intended to flatter his fair cousin, and he had been
successful. She was gratified and pleased by his warmth of affection.
"Pray do," repeated Fanny; "I have more faults than virtues to be told
of, and so I'm afraid you'll find out, when you know me better."
"To begin, then," said Kilcullen, "are you not wrong--but no, Fanny, I
will not torment you now with a catalogue of faults. I did not ask you
to come out with me for that object. You are now in grief for the death
of poor Harry"--Fanny blushed as she reflected how much more poignant
a sorrow weighed upon her heart--"and are therefore unable to exert
yourself; but, as soon as you are able--when you have recovered from
this severe blow, I trust you will not be content to loiter and dawdle
away your existence at Grey Abbey."
"Not the whole of it," said Fanny.
"None of it," replied her cousin. "Every month, every day, should
have its purpose. My father has got into a dull, heartless, apathetic
mode of life, which suits my mother and Selina, but which will never
suit you. Grey Abbey is like the Dead Sea, of which the waters are
always bitter as well as stagnant. It makes me miserable, dearest
Fanny, to see you stifled in such a pool. Your beauty, talents, and
energies--your disposition to enjoy life, and power of making it
enjoyable for others, are all thrown away. Oh, Fanny, if I could rescue
you from this!"
"You are inventing imaginary evils," said she; "at any rate they are
not palpable to my eyes."
"That's it; that's just what I fear," said the other, "that time,
habit, and endurance may teach you to think that nothing further is
to be looked for in this world than vegetation at Grey Abbey, or some
other place of the kind, to which you may be transplanted. I want to
wake you from such a torpor; to save you from such ignominy. I wish to
restore you to the world."
"There's time enough, Adolphus; you'll see me yet the gayest of the gay
at Almack's."
"Ah! but to please me, Fanny, it must be as one of the leaders, not one
of the led."
"Oh, that'll be in years to come: in twenty years' time; when I come
forth glorious in a jewelled turban, and yards upon yards of yellow
satin--fat, fair, and forty. I've certainly no ambition to be one of
the leaders yet."
Lord Kilcullen walked on silent for a considerable time, during which
Fanny went on talking about London, Almack's, and the miserable life
of lady patronesses, till at last she also became silent, and began
thinking of Lord Ballindine. She had, some little time since, fully
made up her mind to open her heart to Lord Kilcullen about him, and she
had as fully determined not to do so after what Selina had said upon
the subject; but now she again wavered. His manner was so kind and
affectionate, his interest in her future happiness appeared to be so
true and unaffected: at any rate he would not speak harshly or cruelly
to her, if she convinced him how completely her happiness depended
on her being reconciled to Lord Ballindine. She had all but brought
herself to the point; she had almost determined to tell him everything,
when he stopped rather abruptly, and said,
"I also am leaving Grey Abbey again, Fanny."
"Leaving Grey Abbey?" said Fanny. "You told me the other day you were
going to live here,"
"So I intended; so I do intend; but still I must leave it for a while.
I'm going about business, and I don't know how long I may be away. I go
on Saturday."
"I hope, Adolphus, you haven't quarrelled with your father," said she.
"Oh, no," said he: "it is on his advice that I am going. I believe
there is no fear of our quarrelling now. I should rather say I trust
there is none. He not only approves of my going, but approves of what I
am about to do before I go."
"And what is that?"
"I had not intended, Fanny, to say what I have to say to you for some
time, for I feel that different circumstances make it premature. But I
cannot bring myself to leave you without doing so;" and again he paused
and walked on a little way in silence--"and yet," he continued, "I
hardly know how to utter what I wish to say; or rather what I would
wish to have said, were it not that I dread so much the answer you may
make me. Stop, Fanny, stop a moment; the seat is quite dry; sit down
one moment."
Fanny sat down in a little alcove which they had reached, considerably
embarrassed and surprised. She had not, however, the most remote idea
of what he was about to say to her. Had any other man in the world,
almost, spoken to her in the same language, she would have expected an
offer; but from the way in which she had always regarded her cousin,
both heretofore, when she hardly knew him, and now, when she was on
such affectionate terms with him, she would as soon have thought of
receiving an offer from Lord Cashel as from his son.
"Fanny," he said, "I told you before that I have my father's warmest
and most entire approval for what I am now going to do. Should I be
successful in what I ask, he will be delighted; but I have no words to
tell you what my own feelings will be. Fanny, dearest Fanny," and he
sat down close beside her--"I love you better--ah! how much better,
than all the world holds beside. Dearest, dearest Fanny, will you, can
you, return my love?"
"Adolphus," said Fanny, rising suddenly from her seat, more for the
sake of turning round so as to look at him, than with the object of
getting from him, "Adolphus, you are joking with me."
"No, by heavens then," said he, following her, and catching her
hand; "no man in Ireland is this moment more in earnest: no man more
anxiously, painfully in earnest. Oh, Fanny! why should you suppose that
I am not so? How can you think I would joke on such a subject? No: hear
me," he said, interrupting her, as she prepared to answer him, "hear me
out, and then you will know how truly I am in earnest."
"No, not a word further!" almost shrieked Fanny--"Not a word more,
Adolphus--not a syllable; at any rate till you have heard me. Oh, you
have made me so miserable!" and Fanny burst into tears.
"I have spoken too suddenly to you, Fanny; I should have given you more
time--I should have waited till--"
"No, no, no," said Fanny, "it is not that--but yes; what you say is
true: had you waited but one hour--but ten minutes--I should have told
you that which would for ever have prevented all this. I should have
told you, Adolphus, how dearly, how unutterably I love another." And
Fanny again sat down, hid her face in her handkerchief against the
corner of the summer-house, and sobbed and cried as though she were
broken-hearted: during which time Kilcullen stood by, rather perplexed
as to what he was to say next, and beginning to be very doubtful as to
his ultimate success.
"Dear Fanny!" he said, "for both our sakes, pray try to be collected:
all my future happiness is at this moment at stake. I did not bring
you here to listen to what I have told you, without having become too
painfully sure that your hand, your heart, your love, are necessary
to my happiness. All my hopes are now at stake; but I would not, if I
could, secure my own happiness at the expense of yours. Pray believe
me, Fanny, when I say that I love you completely, unalterably,
devotedly: it is necessary now for my own sake that I should say as
much as that. Having told you so much of my own heart, let me hear what
you wish to tell me of yours. Oh, that I might have the most distant
gleam of hope, that it would ever return the love which fills my own!"
"It cannot, Adolphus--it never can," said she, still trying to hide
her tears. "Oh, why should this bitter misery have been added!" She
then rose quickly from her seat, wiped her eyes, and, pushing back her
hair, continued, "I will no longer continue to live such a life as I
have done--miserable to myself, and the cause of misery to others.
Adolphus,--I love Lord Ballindine. I love him with, I believe, as true
and devoted a love as woman ever felt for a man. I valued, appreciated,
gloried in your friendship; but I can never return your, love. My heart
is wholly, utterly, given away; and I would not for worlds receive it
back, till I learn from his own mouth that he has ceased to love me."
"Oh, Fanny! my poor Fanny!" said Kilcullen; "if such is the case, you
are really to be pitied. If this be true, your condition is nearly as
unhappy as my own."
"I am unhappy, very unhappy in your love," said Fanny, drawing herself
up proudly; "but not unhappy in my own. My misery is that I should be
the cause of trouble and unhappiness to others. I have nothing to
regret in my own choice."
"You are harsh, Fanny. It may be well that you should be decided, but
it cannot become you also to be unfeeling. I have offered to you all
that a man can offer; my name, my fortune, my life, my heart; though
you may refuse me, you have no right to be offended with me."
"Oh, Adolphus!" said she, now in her turn offering him her hand: "pray
forgive me: pray do not be angry. Heaven knows I feel no offence: and
how strongly, how sincerely, I feel the compliment you have offered me.
But I want you to see how vain it would be in me to leave you--leave
you in any doubt. I only spoke as I did to show you I could not think
twice, when my heart was given to one whom I so entirely love,
respect--and--and approve."
Lord Kilcullen's face became thoughtful, and his brow grew black: he
stood for some time irresolute what to say or do.
"Let us walk on, Fanny, for this is cold and damp," he said, at last.
"Let us go back to the house, then."
"As you like, Fanny. Oh, how painful all this is! how doubly painful to
know that ray own love is hopeless, and that yours is no less so. Did
you not refuse Lord Ballindine?"
"If I did, is it not sufficient that I tell you I love him? If he were
gone past all redemption, you would not have me encourage you while I
love another?"
"I never dreamed of this! What, Fanny, what are your hopes? what is it
you wish or intend? Supposing me, as I wish I were, fathoms deep below
the earth, what would you do? You cannot marry Lord Ballindine."
"Then I will marry no one," said Fanny, striving hard to suppress her
tears, and barely succeeding.
"Good heavens!" exclaimed Kilcullen; "what an infatuation is
this!"--and then again he walked on silent a little way. "Have you told
any one of this, Fanny?--do they know of it at Grey Abbey? Come, Fanny,
speak to me: forget, if you will, that I would be your lover: remember
me only as your cousin and your friend, and speak to me openly. Do they
know that you have repented of the refusal you gave Lord Ballindine?"
"They all know that I love him: your father, your mother, and Selina."
"You don't say my father?"
"Yes," said Fanny, stopping on the path, and speaking with energy, as
she confronted her cousin. "Yes, Lord Cashel. He, above all others,
knows it. I have told him so almost on my knees. I have implored
him, as a child may implore her father, to bring back to me the only
man I ever loved. I have besought him not to sacrifice me. Oh! how
I have implored him to spare me the dreadful punishment of my own
folly--wretchedness rather--in rejecting the man I loved. But he has
not listened to me; he will never listen to me, and I will never ask
again. He shall find that I am not a tree or a stone, to be planted
or placed as he chooses. I will not again be subjected to what I have
to-day suffered. I will not--I will not--" But Fanny was out of breath;
and could not complete the catalogue of what she would not do.
"And did you intend to tell me all this, had I not spoken to you as I
have done?" said Kilcullen.
"I did," said she. "I was on the point of telling you everything: twice
I had intended to do so. I intended to implore you, as you loved me as
your cousin, to use your exertions to reconcile my uncle and Lord
Ballindine--and now instead of that--"
"You find I love you too well myself?"
"Oh, forget, Adolphus, forget that the words ever passed your lips.
You have not loved me long, and therefore will not continue to love
me, when you know I never can be yours: forget your short-lived
love; won't you, Adolphus?"--and she put her clasped hands upon his
breast--"forget,--let us both forget that the words were ever spoken.
Be still my cousin, my friend, my brother; and we shall still both be
happy."
Different feelings were disturbing Lord Kilcullen's breast--different
from each other, and some of them very different from those which
usually found a place there. He had sought Fanny's hand not only with
most sordid, but also with most dishonest views: he not only intended
to marry her for her fortune, but also to rob her of her money; to
defraud her, that he might enable himself once more to enter the world
of pleasure, with the slight encumbrance of a wretched wife. But, in
carrying out his plan, he had disturbed it by his own weakness: he had
absolutely allowed himself to fall in love with his cousin; and when,
as he had just done, he offered her his hand, he was quite as anxious
that she should accept him for her own sake as for that of her money.
He had taught himself to believe that she would accept him, and many
misgivings had haunted him as to the ruined state to which he should
bring her as his wife. But these feelings, though strong enough to
disturb him, were not strong enough to make him pause: he tried to
persuade himself that he could yet make her happy, and hurried on to
the consummation of his hopes. He now felt strongly tempted to act a
generous part; to give her up, and to bring Lord Ballindine back to her
feet; to deserve at any rate well of her, and leave all other things to
chance. But Lord Kilcullen was not accustomed to make such sacrifices:
he had never learned to disregard himself; and again and again he
turned it over in his mind--"how could he get her fortune?--was there
any way left in which he might be successful?"
"This is child's play, Fanny," he said. "You may reject me: to that I
have nothing further to say, for I am but an indifferent wooer; but you
can never marry Lord Ballindine."
"Oh, Adolphus, for mercy's sake don't say so!"
"But I do say so, Fanny. God knows, not to wound you, or for any
unworthy purpose, but because it is so. He was your lover, and you sent
him away; you cannot whistle him back as you would a dog."
Fanny made no answer to this, but walked on towards the house, anxious
to find herself alone in her own room, that she might compose her mind
and think over all that she had heard and said; nor did Lord Kilcullen
renew the conversation till he got to the house. He could not determine
what to do. Under other circumstances it might, he felt, have been wise
for him to wait till time had weakened Fanny's regret for her lost
lover; but in his case this was impracticable; if he waited anywhere it
would be in the Queen's Bench. And yet, he could not but feel that, at
present, it was hopeless for him to push his suit.
They reached the steps together, and as he opened the front door, Fanny
turned round to wish him good morning, as she was hurrying in; but he
stopped her, and said,
"One word more, Fanny, before we part. You must not refuse me; nor must
we part in this way. Step in here; I will not keep you a minute;" and
he took her into a room off the hall--"do not let us be children,
Fanny; do not let us deceive each other, or ourselves: do not let us
persist in being irrational if we ourselves see that we are so;" and he
paused for a reply.
"Well, Adolphus?" was all she said.
"If I could avoid it," continued he, "I would not hurt your feelings;
but you must see, you must know, that you cannot marry Lord
Ballindine."--Fanny, who was now sitting, bit her lips and clenched her
hands, but she said nothing; "If this is so--if you feel that so far
your fate is fixed, are you mad enough to give yourself up to a vain
and wicked passion--for wicked it will be? Will you not rather strive
to forget him who has forgotten you?"
"That is not true," interposed Fanny.
"His conduct, unfortunately, proves that it is too true," continued
Kilcullen. "He has forgotten you, and you cannot blame him that he
should do so, now that you have rejected him; but he neglected you even
before you did so. Is it wise, is it decorous, is it maidenly in you,
to indulge any longer in so vain a passion? Think of this, Fanny. As
to myself, Heaven knows with what perfect truth, with what true love,
I offered you, this morning, all that a man can offer: how ardently
I hoped for an answer different from that you have now given me.
You cannot give me your heart now; love cannot, at a moment, be
transferred. But think, Fanny, think whether it is not better for
you to accept an offer which your friends will all approve, and which
I trust will never make you unhappy, than to give yourself up to a
lasting regret,--to tears, misery, and grief."
"And would you take my hand without my heart?" said she.
"Not for worlds," replied the other, "were I not certain that your
heart would follow your hand. Whoever may be your husband, you will
love him. But ask my mother, talk to her, ask her advice; she at any
rate will only tell you that which must be best for your own happiness.
Go to her, Fanny; if her advice be different from mine, I will not say
a word farther to urge my suit."
"I will go to no one," said Fanny, rising. "I have gone to too many
with a piteous story on my lips. I have no friend, now, in this house.
I had still hoped to find one in you, but that hope is over. I am, of
course, proud of the honour your declaration has conveyed; but I should
be wicked indeed if I did not make you perfectly understand that it
is one which I cannot accept. Whatever may be your views, your ideas,
I will never marry unless I thoroughly love, and feel that I am
thoroughly loved by my future husband. Had you not made this ill-timed
declaration--had you not even persisted in repeating it after I had
opened my whole heart to you, I could have loved and cherished you as
a brother; under no circumstances could I ever have accepted you as a
husband. Good morning." And she left him alone, feeling that he could
have but little chance of success, should he again renew the attempt.
He did not see her again till dinner-time, when she appeared silent
and reserved, but still collected and at her ease; nor did he speak to
her at dinner or during the evening, till the moment the ladies were
retiring for the night. He then came up to her as she was standing
alone turning over some things on a side-table, and said, "Fanny, I
probably leave Grey Abbey to-morrow. I will say good bye to you
tonight."
"Good bye, Adolphus; may we both be happier when next we meet," said
she.
"My happiness, I fear, is doubtful: but I will not speak of that now.
If I can do anything for yours before I go, I will. Fanny, I will ask
my father to invite Lord Ballindine here. He has been anxious that we
should be married: when I tell him that that is impossible, he may
perhaps be induced to do so."
"Do that," said Fanny, "and you will be a friend to me. Do that, and
you will be more than a brother to me."
"I will; and in doing so I shall crush every hope that I have had left
in me."
"Do not say so, Adolphus:--do not--"
"You'll understand what I mean in a short time. I cannot explain
everything to you now. But this will I do; I will make Lord Cashel
understand that we never can be more to each other than we are now, and
I will advise him to seek a reconciliation with Lord Ballindine. And
now, good bye," and he held out his hand.
"But I shall see you to-morrow."
"Probably not; and if you do, it will be but for a moment, when I shall
have other adieux to make."
"Good bye, then, Adolphus; and may God bless you; and may we yet live
to have many happy days together," and she shook hands with him, and
went to her room.
XXXIII. LORD KILCULLEN MAKES ANOTHER VISIT TO THE BOOK-ROOM
Lord Cashel's plans were certainly not lucky. It was not that
sufficient care was not used in laying them, nor sufficient caution
displayed in maturing them. He passed his time in care and caution;
he spared no pains in seeing that the whole machinery was right; he
was indefatigable in deliberation, diligent in manoeuvring, constant
in attention. But, somehow, he was unlucky; his schemes were never
successful. In the present instance he was peculiarly unfortunate, for
everything went wrong with him. He had got rid of an obnoxious lover,
he had coaxed over his son, he had spent an immensity of money, he had
undergone worlds of trouble and self-restraint;--and then, when he
really began to think that his ward's fortune would compensate him for
this, his own family came to him, one after another, to assure him that
he was completely mistaken--that it was utterly impossible that such
a thing as a family marriage between the two cousins could never take
place, and indeed, ought not to be thought of.
Lady Selina gave him the first check. On the morning on which Lord
Kilcullen made his offer, she paid her father a solemn visit in his
book-room, and told him exactly what she had before told her mother;
assured him that Fanny could not be induced, at any rate at present,
to receive her cousin as her lover; whispered to him, with unfeigned
sorrow and shame, that Fanny was still madly in love with Lord
Ballindine; and begged him to induce her brother to postpone his offer,
at any rate for some months.
"I hate Lord Ballindine's very name," said the earl, petulant with
irritation.
"We none of us approve of him, papa: we don't think of supposing
that he could now be a fitting husband for Fanny, or that they could
possibly ever be married. Of course it's not to be thought of. But if
you would advise Adolphus not to be premature, he might, in the end,
be more successful."
"Kilcullen has made his own bed and he must lie in it; I won't
interfere between them," said the angry father.
"But if you were only to recommend delay," suggested the daughter; "a
few months' delay; think how short a time Harry Wyndham has been dead!"
Lord Cashel knew that delay was death in this case, so he pished, and
hummed, and hawed; quite lost the dignity on which he piqued himself,
and ended by declaring that he would not interfere; that they might do
as they liked; that young people would not be guided, and that he would
not make himself unhappy about them. And so, Lady Selina, crestfallen
and disappointed, went away.
Then, Lady Cashel, reflecting on what her daughter had told her, and
yet anxious that the marriage should, if possible, take place at some
time or other, sent Griffiths down to her lord, with a message--"Would
his lordship be kind enough to step up-stairs to her ladyship?" Lord
Cashel went up, and again had all the difficulties of the case opened
out before him.
"But you see," said her ladyship, "poor Fanny--she's become so
unreasonable--I don't know what's come to her--I'm sure I do everything
I can to make her happy: but I suppose if she don't like to marry,
nobody can make her."
"Make her?--who's talking of making her?" said the earl.
"No, of course not," continued the countess; "that's just what Selina
says; no one can make her do anything, she's got so obstinate, of late:
but it's all that horrid Lord Ballindine, and those odious horses. I'm
sure I don't know what business gentlemen have to have horses at all;
there's never any good comes of it. There's Adolphus--he's had the good
sense to get rid of his, and yet Fanny's so foolish, she'd sooner have
that other horrid man--and I'm sure he's not half so good-looking, nor
a quarter so agreeable as Adolphus."
All these encomiums on his son, and animadversions on Lord Ballindine,
were not calculated to put the earl into a good humour; he was heartily
sick of the subject; thoroughly repented that he had not allowed his
son to ruin himself in his own way; detested the very name of Lord
Ballindine, and felt no very strong affection for his poor innocent
ward. He accordingly made his wife nearly the same answer he had made
his daughter, and left her anything but comforted by the visit.
It was about eleven o'clock on the same evening, that Lord Kilcullen,
after parting with Fanny, opened the book-room door. He had been quite
sincere in what he had told her. He had made up his mind entirely to
give over all hopes of marrying her himself, and to tell his father
that the field was again open for Lord Ballindine, as far as he was
concerned.
There is no doubt that he would not have been noble enough to do this,
had he thought he had himself any chance of being successful; but still
there was something chivalrous in his resolve, something magnanimous in
his determination to do all he could for the happiness of her he really
loved, when everything in his own prospects was gloomy, dark, and
desperate. As he entered his father's room, feeling that it would
probably be very long before he should be closeted with him again, he
determined that he would not quietly bear reproaches, and even felt a
source of satisfaction in the prospect of telling his father that their
joint plans were overturned--their schemes completely at an end.
"I'm disturbing you, my lord, I'm afraid," said the son, walking into
the room, not at all with the manner of one who had any hesitation at
causing the disturbance.
"Who's that?" said the earl--"Adolphus?--no--yes. That is, I'm just
going to bed; what is it you want?" The earl had been dozing after all
the vexations of the day.
"To tell the truth, my lord, I've a good deal that I wish to say: will
it trouble you to listen to me?"
"Won't to-morrow morning do?"
"I shall leave Grey Abbey early to-morrow, my lord; immediately after
breakfast."
"Good heavens, Kilcullen! what do you mean? You're not going to run off
to London again?"
"A little farther than that, I'm afraid, will be necessary," said the
son. "I have offered to Miss Wyndham--have been refused--and, having
finished my business at Grey Abbey, your lordship will probably think
that in leaving it I shall be acting with discretion."
"You have offered to Fanny and been refused!"
"Indeed I have; finally and peremptorily refused. Not only that: I have
pledged my word to my cousin that I will never renew my suit."
The earl sat speechless in his chair--so much worse was this
catastrophe even than his expectations. Lord Kilcullen continued.
"I hope, at any rate, you are satisfied with me. I have not only
implicitly obeyed your directions, but I have done everything in
my power to accomplish what you wished. Had my marriage with my
cousin been a project of my own, I could not have done more for its
accomplishment. Miss Wyndham's affections are engaged; and she will
never, I am sure, marry one man while she loves another."
"Loves another--psha!" roared the earl. "Is this to be the end of it
all? After your promises to me--after your engagement! After such an
engagement, sir, you come to me and talk about a girl loving another?
Loving another! Will her loving another pay your debts?"
"Exactly the reverse, my lord," said the son. "I fear it will
materially postpone their payment."
"Well, sir," said the earl. He did not exactly know how to commence the
thunder of indignation with which he intended to annihilate his son,
for certainly Kilcullen had done the best in his power to complete the
bargain. But still the storm could not be stayed, unreasonable as it
might be for the earl to be tempestuous on the occasion. "Well, sir,"
and he stood up from his chair, to face his victim, who was still
standing--and, thrusting his hands into his trowsers' pockets, frowned
awfully--"Well, sir; am I to be any further favoured with your plans?"
"I have none, my lord," said Kilcullen; "I am again ready to listen to
yours."
"My plans?--I have no further plans to offer for you. You are ruined,
utterly ruined: you have done your best to ruin me and your mother; I
have pointed out to you, I arranged for you, the only way in which your
affairs could be redeemed; I made every thing easy for you."
"No, my lord: you could not make it easy for me to get my cousin's
love."
"Don't contradict me, sir. I say I did. I made every thing straight
and easy for you: and now you come to me with a whining story about a
girl's love! What's her love to me, sir? Where am I to get my thirty
thousand pounds, sir?--and my note of hand is passed for as much more,
at this time twelve-month! Where am I to raise that, sir? Do you
remember that you have engaged to repay me these sums?--do you remember
that, or have such trifles escaped your recollection?"
"I remember perfectly well, my lord, that if I married my cousin,
you were to repay yourself those sums out of her fortune. But I also
remember, and so must you, that I beforehand warned you that I thought
she would refuse me."
"Refuse you," said the earl, with a contortion of his nose and lips
intended to convey unutterable scorn; "of course she refused you, when
you asked her as a child would ask for an apple, or a cake! What else
could you expect?"
"I hardly think your lordship knows--"
"Don't you hardly think?--then I do know; and know well too. I know you
have deceived me, grossly deceived me--induced me to give you money--to
incur debts, with which I never would have burdened myself had I not
believed you were sincere in your promise. But you have deceived me,
sir--taken me in; for by heaven it's no better!--it's no better than
downright swindling--and that from a son to his father! But it's for
the last time; not a penny more do you get from me: you can ruin the
property; indeed, I believe you have; but, for your mother's and
sister's sake, I'll keep till I die what little you have left me."
Lord Cashel had worked himself up into a perfect frenzy, and was
stamping about the room as he uttered this speech; but, as he came to
the end of it, he threw himself into his chair again, and buried his
face in his hands.
Lord Kilcullen was standing with his back resting against the
mantel-piece, with a look of feigned indifference on his face, which
he tried hard to maintain. But his brow became clouded, and he bit his
lips when his father accused him of swindling; and he was just about to
break forth into a torrent of recrimination, when Lord Cashel turned
off into a pathetic strain, and Kilcullen thought it better to leave
him there.
"What I'm to do, I don't know; what I am to do, I do not know!" said
the earl, beating the table with one hand, and hiding his face with
the other. "Sixty thousand pounds in one year; and that after so many
drains!--And there's only my own life--there's only my own life!"--and
then there was a pause for four or five minutes, during which Lord
Kilcullen took snuff, poked the fire, and then picked up a newspaper,
as though he were going to read it. This last was too much for the
father, and he again roared out, "Well, sir, what are you standing
there for? If you've nothing else to say; why don't you go? I've done
with you--you can not get more out of me, I promise you!"
"I've a good deal to say before I go, my lord," said Kilcullen. "I was
waiting till you were disposed to listen to me. I've a good deal to
say, indeed, which you must hear; and I trust, therefore, you will
endeavour to be cool, whatever your opinions may be about my conduct."
"Cool?--no, sir, I will not be cool. You're too cool yourself!"
"Cool enough for both, you think, my lord."
"Kilcullen," said the earl, "you've neither heart nor principle: you
have done your worst to ruin me, and now you come to insult me in my
own room. Say what you want to say, and then leave me."
"As to insulting language, my lord, I think you need not complain, when
you remember that you have just called me a swindler, because I have
been unable to accomplish your wish and my own, by marrying my cousin.
However, I will let that pass. I have done the best I could to gain
that object. I did more than either of us thought it possible that I
should do, when I consented to attempt it. I offered her my hand, and
assured her of my affection, without falsehood or hypocrisy. My bargain
was that I should offer to her. I have done more than that, for I have
loved her. I have, however, been refused, and in such a manner as
to convince me that it would be useless for me to renew my suit. If
your lordship will allow me to advise you on such a subject, I would
suggest that you make no further objection to Fanny's union with Lord
Ballindine. For marry him she certainly will."
"What, sir?" again shouted Lord Cashel.
"I trust Fanny will receive no further annoyance on the subject. She
has convinced me that her own mind is thoroughly made up; and she is
not the person to change her mind on such a subject."
"And haven't you enough on hand in your own troubles, but what you must
lecture me about my ward?--Is it for that you have come to torment me
at this hour? Had not you better at once become her guardian yourself,
sir, and manage the matter in your own way?"
"I promised Fanny I would say as much to you. I will not again mention
her name unless you press me to do so."
"That's very kind," said the earl.
"And now, about myself. I think your lordship will agree with me that
it is better that I should at once leave Grey Abbey, when I tell you
that, if I remain here, I shall certainly be arrested before the
week is over, if I am found outside the house. I do not wish to have
bailiffs knocking at your lordship's door, and your servants instructed
to deny me."
"Upon my soul, you are too good."
"At any rate," said Kilcullen, "you'll agree with me that this is no
place for me to remain in."
"You're quite at liberty to go," said the earl. "You were never very
ceremonious with regard to me; pray don't begin to be so now. Pray
go--to-night if you like. Your mother's heart will be broken, that's
all."
"I trust my mother will be able to copy your lordship's indifference."
"Indifference! Is sixty thousand pounds in one year, and more than
double within three or four, indifference? I have paid too much to be
indifferent. But it is hopeless to pay more. I have no hope for you;
you are ruined, and I couldn't redeem you even if I would. I could not
set you free and tell you to begin again, even were it wise to do so;
and therefore I tell you to go. And now, good night; I have not another
word to say to you," and the earl got up as if to leave the room.
"Stop, my lord, you must listen to me," said Kilcullen.
"Not a word further. I have heard enough;" and he put out the candles
on the book-room table, having lighted a bed candle which he held in
his hand.
"Pardon me, my lord," continued the son, standing just before his
father, so as to prevent his leaving the room; "pardon me, but you must
listen to what I have to say."
"Not another word--not another word. Leave the door, sir, or I will
ring for the servants to open it."
"Do so," said Kilcullen, "and they also shall hear what I have to say.
I am going to leave you to-morrow, perhaps for ever; and you will not
listen to the last word I wish to speak to you?"
"I'll stay five minutes," said the earl, taking out his watch, "and
then I'll go; and if you attempt again to stop me, I'll ring the bell
for the servants."
"Thank you, my lord, for the five minutes; it will be time enough. I
purpose leaving Grey Abbey to-morrow, and I shall probably be in France
in three days' time. When there, I trust I shall cease to trouble you;
but I cannot, indeed I will not go, without funds to last me till I can
make some arrangement. Your lordship must give me five hundred pounds.
I have not the means even of carrying myself from hence to Calais."
"Not one penny. Not one penny--if it were to save you from the gaol
to-morrow! This is too bad!" and the earl again walked to the door,
against which Lord Kilcullen leaned his back. "By Heaven, sir, I'll
raise the house if you think to frighten me by violence!"
"I'll use no violence, but you must hear the alternative: if you please
it, the whole house shall hear it too. If you persist in refusing the
small sum I now ask--"
"I will not give you one penny to save you from gaol. Is that plain?"
"Perfectly plain, and very easy to believe. But you will give more than
a penny; you would even give more than I ask, to save yourself from the
annoyance you will have to undergo."
"Not on any account will I give you one single farthing."
"Very well. Then I have only to tell you what I must do. Of course, I
shall remain here. You cannot turn me out of your house, or refuse me a
seat at your table."
"By Heavens, though, I both can and will!"
"You cannot, my lord. If you think of it, you'll find you cannot,
without much disagreeable trouble. An eldest son would be a very
difficult tenant to eject summarily: and of my own accord I will not go
without the money I ask."
"By heavens, this exceeds all I ever heard. Would you rob your own
father?"
"I will not rob him, but I'll remain in his house. The sheriff's
officers, doubtless, will hang about the doors, and be rather
troublesome before the windows; but I shall not be the first Irish
gentleman that has remained at home upon his keeping. And, like other
Irish gentlemen, I will do so rather than fall into the hands of these
myrmidons. I have no wish to annoy you; I shall be most sorry to do so;
most sorry to subject my mother to the misery which must attend the
continual attempts which will be made to arrest me; but I will not put
my head into the lion's jaw."
"This is the return for what I have done for him!" ejaculated the earl,
in his misery. "Unfortunate reprobate! unfortunate reprobate!--that I
should be driven to wish that he was in gaol!"
"Your wishing so won't put me there, my lord. If it would I should not
be weak enough to ask you for this money. Do you mean to comply with my
request?"
"I do not, sir: not a penny shall you have--not one farthing more shall
you get from me."
"Then good night, my lord. I grieve that I should have to undergo a
siege in your lordship's house, more especially as it is likely to be a
long one. In a week's time there will be a '_ne exeat_' [48] issued
against me, and then it will be too late for me to think of France."
And so saying, the son retired to his own room, and left the father to
consider what he had better do in his distress.
[FOOTNOTE 48: ne exeat--(Latin) "let him not leave"; a legal
writ forbidding a person to leave the jurisdiction
of the court]
Lord Cashel was dreadfully embarrassed. What Lord Kilcullen said was
perfectly true; an eldest son was a most difficult tenant to eject; and
then, the ignominy of having his heir arrested in his own house, or
detained there by bailiffs lurking round the premises! He could not
determine whether it would be more painful to keep his son, or to give
him up. If he did the latter, he would be driven to effect it by a most
disagreeable process. He would have to assist the officers of the law
in their duty, and to authorise them to force the doors locked by his
son. The prospect, either way, was horrid. He would willingly give the
five hundred pounds to be rid of his heir, were it not for his word's
sake, or rather his pride's sake. He had said he would not, and, as he
walked up and down the room he buttoned up his breeches pocket, and
tried to resolve that, come what come might, he would not expedite his
son's departure by the outlay of one shilling.
The candles had been put out, and the gloom of the room was only
lightened by a single bed-room taper, which, as it stood near the door,
only served to render palpable the darkness of the further end of the
chamber. For half an hour Lord Cashel walked to and fro, anxious,
wretched, and in doubt, instead of going to his room. How he wished
that Lord Ballindine had married his ward, and taken her off six months
since!--all this trouble would not then have come upon him. And as he
thought of the thirty thousand pounds that he had spent, and the thirty
thousand more that he must spend, he hurried on with such rapidity that
in the darkness he struck his shin violently against some heavy piece
of furniture, and, limping back to the candlestick, swore through his
teeth--"No, not a penny, were it to save him from perdition! I'll see
the sheriff's officer. I'll see the sheriff himself, and tell him that
every door in the house--every closet--every cellar, shall be open to
him. My house shall enable no one to defy the law." And, with this
noble resolve, to which, by the bye, the blow on his shin greatly
contributed, Lord Cashel went to bed, and the house was at rest.
About nine o'clock on the following morning Lord Kilcullen was still in
bed, but awake. His servant had been ordered to bring him hot water,
and he was seriously thinking of getting up, and facing the troubles
of the day, when a very timid knock at the door announced to him that
some stranger was approaching. He adjusted his nightcap, brought the
bed-clothes up close to his neck, and on giving the usual answer to a
knock at the door, saw a large cap introduce itself, the head belonging
to which seemed afraid to follow.
"Who's that?" he called out.
"It's me, my lord," said the head, gradually following the cap.
"Griffiths, my lord."
"Well?"
"Lady Selina, my lord; her ladyship bids me give your lordship her
love, and would you see her ladyship for five minutes before you get
up?"
Lord Kilcullen having assented to this proposal, the cap and head
retired. A second knock at the door was soon given, and Lady Selina
entered the room, with a little bit of paper in her hand.
"Good morning, Adolphus," said the sister.
"Good morning, Selina," said the brother. "It must be something very
particular, which brings you here at this hour."
"It is indeed, something very particular. I have been with papa this
morning, Adolphus: he has told me of the interview between you last
night."
"Well."
"Oh, Adolphus! he is very angry--he's--"
"So am I, Selina. I am very angry, too;--so we're quits. We laid a plan
together, and we both failed, and each blames the other; so you need
not tell me anything further about his anger. Did he send any message
to me?"
"He did. He told me I might give you this, if I would undertake that
you left Grey Abbey to-day:" and Lady Selina held up, but did not give
him, the bit of paper.
"What a dolt he is."
"Oh, Adolphus!" said Selina, "don't speak so of your father."
"So he is: how on earth can you undertake that I shall leave the
house?"
"I can ask you to give me your word that you will do so; and I can take
back the check if you refuse," said Lady Selina, conceiving it utterly
impossible that one of her own family could break his word.
"Well, Selina, I'll answer you fairly. If that bit of paper is a cheque
for five hundred pounds, I will leave this place in two hours. If it is
not--"
"It is," said Selina. "It is a cheque for five hundred pounds, and I
may then give it to you?"
"I thought as much," said Lord Kilcullen; "I thought he'd alter his
mind. Yes, you may give it me, and tell my father I'll dine in London
to-morrow evening."
"He says, Adolphus, he'll not see you before you go."
"Well, there's comfort in that, anyhow."
"Oh, Adolphus! how can you speak in that manner now?--how can you speak
in that wicked, thoughtless, reckless manner?" said his sister.
"Because I'm a wicked, thoughtless, reckless man, I suppose. I didn't
mean to vex you, Selina; but my father is so pompous, so absurd, and so
tedious. In the whole of this affair I have endeavoured to do exactly
as he would have me; and he is more angry with me now, because his plan
has failed, than he ever was before, for any of my past misdoings.--But
let me get up now, there's a good girl; for I've no time to lose."
"Will you see your mother before you go, Adolphus?"
"Why, no; it'll be no use--only tormenting her. Tell her something, you
know; anything that won't vex her."
"But I cannot tell her anything about you that will not vex her."
"Well, then, say what will vex her least. Tell her--tell her. Oh, you
know what to tell her, and I'm sure I don't."
"And Fanny: will you see her again?"
"No," said Kilcullen. "I have bid her good bye. But give her my kindest
love, and tell her that I did what I told her I would do."
"She told me what took place between you yesterday."
"Why, Selina, everybody tells you everything! And now, I'll tell you
something. If you care for your cousin's happiness, do not attempt to
raise difficulties between her and Lord Ballindine. And now, I must say
good bye to you. I'll have my breakfast up here, and go directly down
to the yard. Good bye, Selina; when I'm settled I'll write to you, and
tell you where I am."
"Good bye, Adolphus; God bless you, and enable you yet to retrieve your
course. I'm afraid it is a bad one;" and she stooped down and kissed
her brother.
He was as good as his word. In two hours' time he had left Grey Abbey.
He dined that day in Dublin, the next in London, and the third in
Boulogne; and the sub-sheriff of County Kildare in vain issued
half-a-dozen writs for his capture.
XXXIV. THE DOCTOR MAKES A CLEAN BREAST OF IT
We will now return for a while to Dunmore, and settle the affairs of
the Kellys and Lynches, which we left in rather a precarious state.
Barry's attempt on Doctor Colligan's virtue was very unsuccessful, for
Anty continued to mend under the treatment of that uncouth but safe son
of Galen. As Colligan told her brother, the fever had left her, though
for some time it was doubtful whether she had strength to recover from
its effects. This, however, she did gradually; and, about a fortnight
after the dinner at Dunmore House, the doctor told Mrs Kelly and Martin
that his patient was out of danger.
Martin had for some time made up his mind that Anty was to live for
many years in the character of Mrs Martin, and could not therefore be
said to be much affected by the communication. But if he was not, his
mother was. She had made up her mind that Anty was to die; that she
was to pay for the doctor--the wake, and the funeral, and that she
would have a hardship and grievance to boast of, and a subject of
self-commendation to enlarge on, which would have lasted her till her
death; and she consequently felt something like disappointment at being
ordered to administer to Anty a mutton chop and a glass of sherry every
day at one o'clock. Not that the widow was less assiduous, or less
attentive to Anty's wants now that she was convalescent; but she
certainly had not so much personal satisfaction, as when she was able
to speak despondingly of her patient to all her gossips.
"Poor cratur!" she used to say--"it's all up with her now; the Lord be
praised for all his mercies. She's all as one as gone, glory be to God
and the Blessed Virgin. Shure no good ever come of ill-got money;--not
that she was iver to blame. Thank the Lord, av' I have a penny saved at
all, it was honestly come by; not that I shall have when this is done
and paid for, not a stifle; (stiver [49] Mrs Kelly probably meant)--but
what's that!" and she snapped her fingers to show that the world's gear
was all dross in her estimation.--"She shall be dacently sthretched,
though she is a Lynch, and a Kelly has to pay for it. Whisper,
neighbour; in two years' time there'll not be one penny left on another
of all the dirthy money Sim Lynch scraped together out of the
gutthers."
[FOOTNOTE 49: stiver--a Dutch coin worth almost nothing]
There was a degree of triumph in these lamentations, a tone of
self-satisfied assurance in the truth of her melancholy predictions,
which showed that the widow was not ill at ease with herself. When Anty
was declared out of danger, her joy was expressed with much more
moderation.
"Yes, thin," she said to Father Pat Geoghegan, "poor thing, she's
rallying a bit. The docthor says maybe she'll not go this time; but
he's much in dread of a re-claps--"
"Relapse, Mrs Kelly, I suppose?"
"Well, relapse, av' you will, Father Pat--relapse or reclaps, it's
pretty much the same I'm thinking; for she'd niver get through another
bout. God send we may be well out of the hobble this day twelvemonth.
Martin's my own son, and ain't above industhrying, as his father and
mother did afore him, and I won't say a word agin him; but he's brought
more throuble on me with them Lynches than iver I knew before. What has
a lone woman like me, Father Pat, to do wid sthrangers like them? jist
to turn their backs on me when I ain't no furder use, and to be gitting
the hights of insolence and abuse, as I did from that blagguard Barry.
He'd betther keep his toe in his pump and go asy, or he'll wake to a
sore morning yet, some day."
Doctor Colligan, also, was in trouble from his connection with the
Lynches: not that he had any dissatisfaction at the recovery of his
patient, for he rejoiced at it, both on her account and his own. He had
strongly that feeling of self-applause, which must always be enjoyed by
a doctor who brings a patient safely through a dangerous illness. But
Barry's iniquitous proposal to him weighed heavy on his conscience. It
was now a week since it had been made, and he had spoken of it to no
one. He had thought much and frequently of what he ought to do; whether
he should publicly charge Lynch with the fact; whether he should tell
it confidentially to some friend whom he could trust; or whether--by
far the easiest alternative, he should keep it in his own bosom, and
avoid the man in future as he would an incarnation of the devil. It
preyed much upon his spirits, for he lived in fear of Barry Lynch--in
fear lest he should determine to have the first word, and, in his
own defence, accuse him (Colligan) of the very iniquity which he had
himself committed. Nothing, the doctor felt, would be too bad or too
false for Barry Lynch; nothing could be more damnable than the proposal
he had made; and yet it would be impossible to convict him, impossible
to punish him. He would, of course, deny the truth of the accusation,
and probably return the charge on his accuser. And yet Colligan felt
that he would be compromising the matter, if he did not mention it to
some one; and that he would outrage his own feelings if he did not
express his horror at the murder which he had been asked to commit.
For one week these feelings quite destroyed poor Colligan's peace
of mind; during the second, he determined to make a clean breast
of it; and, on the first day of the third week, after turning in
his mind twenty different people--Martin Kelly--young Daly--the
widow--the parish priest--the parish parson--the nearest stipendiary
magistrate--and a brother doctor in Tuam, he at last determined on
going to Lord Ballindine, as being both a magistrate and a friend of
the Kellys. Doctor Colligan himself was not at all acquainted with Lord
Ballindine: he attended none of the family, who extensively patronised
his rival, and he had never been inside Kelly's Court house. He felt,
therefore, considerable embarrassment at his mission; but he made up
his mind to go, and, manfully setting himself in his antique rickety
gig, started early enough, to catch Lord Ballindine, as he thought,
before he left the house after breakfast.
Lord Ballindine had spent the last week or ten days restlessly enough.
Armstrong, his clerical ambassador, had not yet started on his mission
to Grey Abbey, and innumerable difficulties seemed to arise to prevent
his doing so. First of all, the black cloth was to be purchased, and
a tailor, sufficiently adept for making up the new suit, was to be
caught. This was a work of some time; for though there is in the West
of Ireland a very general complaint of the stagnation of trade, trade
itself is never so stagnant as are the tradesmen, when work, is to be
done; and it is useless for a poor wight to think of getting his coat
or his boots, till such time as absolute want shall have driven the
artisan to look for the price of his job--unless some private and
underhand influence be used, as was done in the case of Jerry Blake's
new leather breeches.
This cause of delay was, however, not mentioned to Lord Ballindine; but
when it was well got over, and a neighbouring parson procured to preach
on the next Sunday to Mrs O'Kelly and the three policemen who attended
Ballindine Church, Mrs Armstrong broke her thumb with the rolling-pin
while making a beef pudding for the family dinner, and her husband's
departure was again retarded. And then, on the next Sunday, the
neighbouring parson could not leave his own policemen, and the two
spinsters, who usually formed his audience.
All this tormented Lord Ballindine. and he was really thinking of
giving up the idea of sending Mr Armstrong altogether, when he received
the following letter from his friend Dot Blake.
Limmer's Hotel. April, 1847.
Dear Frank,
One cries out, "what are you at?" the other, "what are you after?"
Every one is saying what a fool you are! Kilcullen is at Grey Abbey,
with the evident intention of superseding you in possession of Miss
W----, and, what is much more to his taste, as it would be to mine,
of her fortune. Mr T. has written to me _from Grey Abbey_, where he
has been staying: he is a good-hearted fellow, and remembers how
warmly you contradicted the report that your match was broken off.
For heaven's sake, follow up your warmth of denial with some show of
positive action, a little less cool than your present quiescence, or
you cannot expect that any amount of love should be strong enough
to prevent your affianced from resenting your conduct. I am doubly
anxious; quite as anxious that Kilcullen, whom I detest, should not
get young Wyndham's money, as I am that you should. He is utterly,
_utterly_ smashed. If he got double the amount of Fanny Wyndham's
cash, it could not keep him above water for more than a year or so;
and then she must go down with him. I am sure the old fool, his
father, does not half know the amount of his son's liabilities, or
he could not be heartless enough to consent to sacrifice the poor
girl as she will be sacrificed, if Kilcullen gets her. I am not
usually very anxious about other people's concerns; but I do feel
anxious about this matter. I want to have a respectable house in the
country, in which I can show my face when I grow a little older, and
be allowed to sip my glass of claret, and talk about my horses, in
spite of my iniquitous propensities--and I expect to be allowed to
do so at Kelly's Court. But, if you let Miss Wyndham slip through
your fingers, you won't have a house over your head in a few years'
time, much less a shelter to offer a friend. For God's sake, start
for Grey Abbey at once. Why, man alive, the ogre can't eat you!
The whole town is in the devil of a ferment about Brien. Of course
you heard the rumour, last week, of his heels being cracked? Some
of the knowing boys want to get out of the trap they are in; and,
despairing of bringing the horse down in the betting by fair means,
got a boy out of Scott's stables to swear to the fact. I went down
at once to Yorkshire, and published a letter in _Bell's Life_ last
Saturday, stating that he is all right. This you have probably seen.
You will be astonished to hear it, but I believe Lord Tattenham
Corner got the report spread. For heaven's sake don't mention this,
particularly not as coming from me. They say that if Brien does the
trick, he will lose more than he has made these three years, and I
believe he will. He is nominally at 4 to 1; but you can't get 4 to
anything like a figure from a safe party.
For heaven's sake go to Grey Abbey, and at once.
Always faithfully,
W. BLAKE.
This letter naturally increased Lord Ballindine's uneasiness, and he
wrote a note to Mr Armstrong, informing him that he would not trouble
him to go at all, unless he could start the next day. Indeed, that he
should then go himself, if Mr Armstrong did not do so.
This did not suit Mr Armstrong. He had made up his mind to go; he could
not well return the twenty pounds he had received, nor did he wish to
forego the advantage which might arise from the trip. So he told his
wife to be very careful about her thumb, made up his mind to leave
the three policemen for once without spiritual food, and wrote to
Lord Ballindine to say that he would be with him the next morning,
immediately after breakfast, on his road to catch the mail-coach at
Ballyglass.
He was as good as his word, or rather better; for he breakfasted at
Kelly's Court, and induced Lord Ballindine to get into his own gig, and
drive him as far as the mail-coach road.
"But you'll be four or five hours too soon," said Frank; "the coach
doesn't pass Ballyglass till three."
"I want to see those cattle of Rutledge's. I'll stay there, and maybe
get a bit of luncheon; it's not a bad thing to be provided for the
road."
"I'll tell you what, though," said Frank. "I want to go to Tuam, so you
might as well get the coach there; and if there's time to spare, you
can pay your respects to the bishop."
It was all the same to Mr Armstrong, and the two therefore started
for Tuam together. They had not, however, got above half way down
the avenue, when they saw another gig coming towards them; and,
after sundry speculations as to whom it might contain, Mr Armstrong
pronounced the driver to be "that dirty gallipot, Colligan."
It was Colligan; and, as the two gigs met in the narrow road, the
dirty gallipot took off his hat, and was very sorry to trouble Lord
Ballindine, but had a few words to say to him on very important and
pressing business.
Lord Ballindine touched his hat, and intimated that he was ready to
listen, but gave no signs of getting out of his gig.
"My lord," said Colligan, "it's particularly important, and if you
could, as a magistrate, spare me five minutes."
"Oh, certainly, Mr Colligan," said Frank; "that is, I'm rather
hurried--I may say very much hurried just at present. But still--I
suppose there's no objection to Mr Armstrong hearing what you have to
say?"
"Why, my lord," said Colligan, "I don't know. Your lordship can judge
yourself afterwards; but I'd rather--"
"Oh, I'll get down," said the parson. "I'll just take a walk among the
trees: I suppose the doctor won't be long?"
"If you wouldn't mind getting into my buggy, and letting me into his
lordship's gig, you could be following us on, Mr Armstrong," suggested
Colligan.
This suggestion was complied with. The parson and the doctor changed
places; and the latter, awkwardly enough, but with perfect truth,
whispered his tale into Lord Ballindine's ear.
At first, Frank had been annoyed at the interruption; but, as he
learned the cause of it, he gave his full attention to the matter, and
only interrupted the narrator by exclamations of horror and disgust.
When Doctor Colligan had finished, Lord Ballindine insisted on
repeating the whole affair to Mr Armstrong. "I could not take upon
myself," said he, "to advise you what to do; much less to tell you what
you should do. There is only one thing clear; you cannot let things
rest as they are. Armstrong is a man of the world, and will know what
to do; you cannot object to talking the matter over with him."
Colligan consented: and Armstrong, having been summoned, drove the
doctor's buggy up alongside of Lord Ballindine's gig.
"Armstrong," said Frank, "I have just heard the most horrid story that
ever came to my ears. That wretch, Barry Lynch, has tried to induce
Doctor Colligan to poison his sister!"
"What!" shouted Armstrong; "to poison his sister?"
"Gently, Mr Armstrong; pray don't speak so loud, or it'll be all
through the country in no time."
"Poison his sister!" repeated Armstrong. "Oh, it'll hang him! There's
no doubt it'll hang him! Of course you'll take the doctor's
information?"
"But the doctor hasn't tendered me any information," said Frank,
stopping his horse, so that Armstrong was able to get close up to his
elbow.
"But I presume it is his intention to do so?" said the parson.
"I should choose to have another magistrate present then," said Frank.
"Really, Doctor Colligan, I think the best thing you can do is to come
before myself and the stipendiary magistrate at Tuam. We shall be sure
to find Brew at home to-day."
"But, my lord," said Colligan, "I really had no intention of doing
that. I have no witnesses. I can prove nothing. Indeed, I can't say he
ever asked me to do the deed: he didn't say anything I could charge him
with as a crime: he only offered me the farm if his sister should die.
But I knew what he meant; there was no mistaking it: I saw it in his
eye."
"And what did you do, Doctor Colligan, at the time?" said the parson.
"I hardly remember," said the doctor; "I was so flurried. But I know I
knocked him down, and then I rushed out of the room. I believe I
threatened I'd have him hung."
"But you did knock him down?"
"Oh, I did. He was sprawling on the ground when I left him."
"You're quite sure you knocked him down?" repeated the parson.
"The divil a doubt on earth about that!" replied Colligan. "I tell you,
when I left the room he was on his back among the chairs."
"And you did not hear a word from him since?"
"Not a word."
"Then there can't be any mistake about it, my lord," said Armstrong.
"If he did not feel that his life was in the doctor's hands, he would
not put up with being knocked down. And I'll tell you what's more--if
you tax him with the murder, he'll deny it and defy you; but tax him
with having been knocked down, and he'll swear his foot slipped, or
that he'd have done as much for the doctor if he hadn't run away. And
then ask him why the doctor knocked him down?--you'll have him on the
hip so."
"There's something in that," said Frank; "but the question is, what is
Doctor Colligan to do? He says he can't swear any information on which
a magistrate could commit him."
"Unless he does, my lord," said Armstrong, "I don't think you should
listen to him at all; at least, not as a magistrate."
"Well, Doctor Colligan, what do you say?"
"I don't know what to say, my lord. I came to your lordship for advice,
both as a magistrate and as a friend of the young man who is to marry
Lynch's sister. Of course, if you cannot advise me, I will go away
again."
"You won't come before me and Mr Brew, then?"
"I don't say I won't," said Colligan; "but I don't see the use. I'm not
able to prove anything."
"I'll tell you what, Ballindine," said the parson; "only I don't know
whether it mayn't be tampering with justice--suppose we were to go to
this hell-hound, you and I together, and, telling him what we know,
give him his option to stand his trial or quit the country? Take my
word for it, he'd go; and that would be the best way to be rid of him.
He'd leave his sister in peace and quiet then, to enjoy her fortune."
"That's true," said Frank; "and it would be a great thing to rid the
country of him. Do you remember the way he rode a-top of that poor
bitch of mine the other day--Goneaway, you know; the best bitch in the
pack?"
"Indeed I do," said the parson; "but for all that, she wasn't the best
bitch in the pack: she hadn't half the nose of Gaylass."
"But, as I was saying, Armstrong, it would be a great thing to rid the
country of Barry Lynch."
"Indeed it would."
"And there'd be nothing then to prevent young Kelly marrying Anty at
once."
"Make him give his consent in writing before you let him go," said
Armstrong.
"I'll tell you what, Doctor Colligan," said Frank; "do you get into
your own gig, and follow us on, and I'll talk the matter over with Mr
Armstrong."
The doctor again returned to his buggy, and the parson to his own seat,
and Lord Ballindine drove off at a pace which made it difficult enough
for Doctor Colligan to keep him in sight.
"I don't know how far we can trust that apothecary," said Frank to his
friend.
"He's an honest man, I believe," said Armstrong, "though he's a dirty,
drunken blackguard."
"Maybe he was drunk this evening, at Lynch's?"
"I was wrong to call him a drunkard. I believe he doesn't get drunk,
though he's always drinking. But you may take my word for it, what he's
telling you now is as true as gospel. If he was telling a lie from
malice, he'd be louder, and more urgent about it: you see he's half
afraid to speak, as it is. He would not have come near you at all, only
his conscience makes him afraid to keep the matter to himself. You may
take my word for it, Ballindine, Barry Lynch did propose to him to
murder his sister. Indeed, it doesn't surprise me. He is so utterly
worthless."
"But murder, Armstrong! downright murder; of the worst kind;
studied--premeditated. He must have been thinking of it, and planning
it, for days. A man may be worthless, and yet not such a wretch as that
would make him. Can you really think he meant Colligan to murder his
sister?"
"I can, and do think so," said the parson. "The temptation was great:
he had been waiting for his sister's death; and he could not bring
himself to bear disappointment. I do not think he could do it with his
own hand, for he is a coward; but I can quite believe that he could
instigate another person to do it."
"Then I'd hang him. I wouldn't raise my hand to save him from the
rope!"
"Nor would I: but we can't hang him. We can do nothing to him, if he
defies us; but, if he's well handled, we can drive him from the
country."
The lord and the parson talked the matter over till they reached
Dunmore, and agreed that they would go, with Colligan, to Barry Lynch;
tell him of the charge which was brought against him, and give him
his option of standing his trial, or of leaving the country, under a
written promise that he would never return to it. In this case, he was
also to write a note to Anty, signifying his consent that she should
marry Martin Kelly, and also execute some deed by which all control
over the property should be taken out of his own hands; and that he
should agree to receive his income, whatever it might be, through the
hands of an agent.
There were sundry matters connected with the subject, which were rather
difficult of arrangement. In the, first place, Frank was obliged, very
unwillingly, to consent that Mr Armstrong should remain, at any rate
one day longer, in the country. It was, however, at last settled that
he should return that night and sleep at Kelly's Court. Then Lord
Ballindine insisted that they should tell young Kelly what they were
about, before they went to Barry's house, as it would be necessary to
consult him as to the disposition he would wish to have made of the
property. Armstrong was strongly against this measure,--but it was, at
last, decided on; and then they had to induce Colligan to go with them.
He much wished them to manage the business without him. He had had
quite enough of Dunmore House; and, in spite of the valiant manner in
which he had knocked its owner down the last time he was there, seemed
now quite afraid to face him. But Mr Armstrong informed him that he
must go on now, as he had said so much, and at last frightened him into
an unwilling compliance.
The three of them went up into the little parlour of the inn, and
summoned Martin to the conference, and various were the conjectures
made by the family as to the nature of the business which brought three
such persons to the inn together. But the widow settled them all by
asserting that "a Kelly needn't be afeared, thank God, to see his own
landlord in his own house, nor though he brought an attorney wid him as
well as a parson and a docther." And so, Martin was sent for, and soon
heard the horrid story. Not long after he had joined them, the four
sallied out together, and Meg remarked that something very bad was
going to happen, for the lord never passed her before without a kind
word or a nod; and now he took no more notice of her than if it had
been only Sally herself that met him on the stairs.
XXXV. MR LYNCH BIDS FAREWELL TO DUNMORE
Poor Martin was dreadfully shocked; and not only shocked, but
grieved and astonished. He had never thought well of his intended
brother-in-law, but he had not judged him so severely as Mr Armstrong
had done. He listened to all Lord Ballindine said to him, and agreed as
to the propriety of the measures he proposed. But there was nothing of
elation about him at the downfall of the man whom he could not but look
on as his enemy: indeed, he was not only subdued and modest in his
demeanour, but he appeared so reserved that he could hardly be got to
express any interest in the steps which were to be taken respecting the
property. It was only when Lord Ballindine pointed out to him that it
was his duty to guard Anty's interests, that he would consent to go to
Dunmore House with them, and to state, when called upon to do so, what
measures he would wish to have adopted with regard to the property.
"Suppose he denies himself to us?" said Frank, as the four walked
across the street together, to the great astonishment of the whole
population.
"If he's in the house, I'll go bail we won't go away without seeing
him," said the parson. "Will he be at home, Kelly, do you think?"
"Indeed he will, Mr Armstrong," said Martin; "he'll be in bed and
asleep. He's never out of bed, I believe, much before one or two in the
day. It's a bad life he's leading since the ould man died."
"You may say that," said the doctor:--"cursing and drinking; drinking
and cursing; nothing else. You'll find him curse at you dreadful, Mr
Armstrong, I'm afraid."
"I can bear that, doctor; it's part of my own trade, you know; but I
think we'll find him quiet enough. I think you'll find the difficulty
is to make him speak at all. You'd better be spokesman, my lord, as
you're a magistrate."
"No, Armstrong, I will not. You're much more able, and more fitting: if
it's necessary for me to act as a magistrate, I'll do so--but at first
we'll leave him to you."
"Very well," said the parson; "and I'll do my best. But I'll tell you
what I am afraid of: if we find him in bed we must wait for him, and
when the servant tells him who we are, and mentions the doctor's name
along with yours, my lord, he'll guess what we're come about, and
he'll be out of the window, or into the cellar, and then there'd be
no catching him without the police. We must make our way up into his
bed-room."
"I don't think we could well do that," said the doctor.
"No, Armstrong," said Lord Ballindine. "I don't think we ought to force
ourselves upstairs: we might as well tell all the servants what we'd
come about."
"And so we must," said Armstrong, "if it's necessary. The more
determined we are--in fact, the rougher we are with him, the more
likely we are to bring him on his knees. I tell you, you must have no
scruples in dealing with such a fellow; but leave him to me;" and so
saying, the parson gave a thundering rap at the hail door, and in about
one minute repeated it, which brought Biddy running to the door without
shoes or stockings, with her hair streaming behind her head, and, in
her hand, the comb with which she had been disentangling it.
"Is your master at home?" said Armstrong.
"Begorra, he is," said the girl out of breath. "That is, he's not up
yet, nor awake, yer honer," and she held the door in her hand, as
though this answer was final.
"But I want to see him on especial and immediate business," said the
parson, pushing back the door and the girl together, and walking into
the hall. "I must see him at once. Mr Lynch will excuse me: we've known
each other a long time."
"Begorra, I don't know," said the girl, "only he's in bed and fast.
Couldn't yer honer call agin about four or five o'clock? That's the
time the masther's most fittest to be talking to the likes of yer
honer."
"These gentlemen could not wait," said the parson.
"Shure the docther there, and Mr Martin, knows well enough I'm not
telling you a bit of a lie, Misther Armstrong," said the girl.
"I know you're not, my good girl; I know you're not telling a
lie;--but, nevertheless, I must see Mr Lynch. Just step up and wake
him, and tell him I'm waiting to say two words to him."
"Faix, yer honer, he's very bitther intirely, when he's waked this
early. But in course I'll be led by yer honers. I'll say then, that the
lord, and Parson Armstrong, and the docther, and Mr Martin, is waiting
to spake two words to him. Is that it?"
"That'll do as well as anything," said Armstrong; and then, when the
girl went upstairs, he continued, "You see she knew us all, and of
course will tell him who we are; but I'll not let him escape, for I'll
go up with her," and, as the girl slowly opened her master's bed-room
door, Mr Armstrong stood close outside it in the passage.
After considerable efforts, Biddy succeeded in awaking her master
sufficiently to make him understand that Lord Ballindine, and Doctor
Colligan were downstairs, and that Parson Armstrong was just outside
the bed-room door. The poor girl tried hard to communicate her tidings
in such a whisper as would be inaudible to the parson; but this was
impossible, for Barry only swore at her, and asked her "what the
d---- she meant by jabbering there in that manner?" When, however, he
did comprehend who his visitors were, and where they were, he gnashed
his teeth and clenched his fist at the poor girl, in sign of his anger
against her for having admitted so unwelcome a party; but he was too
frightened to speak.
Mr Armstrong soon put an end to this dumb show, by walking into the
bed-room, when the girl escaped, and he shut the door. Barry sat up in
his bed, rubbed his eyes, and stared at him, but he said nothing.
"Mr Lynch," said the parson, "I had better at once explain the
circumstances which have induced me to make so very strange a visit."
"Confounded strange, I must say! to come up to a man's room in this
way, and him in bed!"
"Doctor Colligan is downstairs--"
"D---- Doctor Colligan! He's at his lies again, I suppose? Much I care
for Doctor Colligan."
"Doctor Colligan is downstairs," continued Mr Armstrong, "and Lord
Ballindine, who, you are aware, is a magistrate. They wish to speak to
you, Mr Lynch, and that at once."
"I suppose they can wait till a man's dressed?"
"That depends on how long you're dressing, Mr Lynch."
"Upon my word, this is cool enough, in a man's own house!" said Barry.
"Well, you don't expect me to get up while you're there, I suppose?"
"Indeed I do, Mr Lynch: never mind me; just wash and dress yourself as
though I wasn't here. I'll wait here till we go down together."
"I'm d----d if I do," said Barry. "I'll not stir while you remain
there!" and he threw himself back in the bed, and wrapped the
bedclothes round him.
"Very well," said Mr Armstrong; and then going out on to the
landing-place, called out over the banisters--"Doctor--Doctor Colligan!
tell his lordship Mr Lynch objects to a private interview: he had
better just step down to the Court-house, and issue his warrant. You
might as well tell Constable Nelligan to be in the way."
"D----n!" exclaimed Barry, sitting bolt upright in his bed. "Who says I
object to see anybody? Mr Armstrong, what do you go and say that for?"
Mr Armstrong returned into the room. "It's not true. I only want to
have my bed-room to myself, while I get up."
"For once in the way, Mr Lynch, you must manage to get up although your
privacy be intruded on. To tell you the plain truth, I will not leave
you till you come downstairs with me, unless it be in the custody of a
policeman. If you will quietly dress and come downstairs with me, I
trust we may be saved the necessity of troubling the police at all."
Barry, at last, gave way, and, gradually extricating himself from the
bedclothes, put his feet down on the floor, and remained sitting on
the side of his bed. He leaned his head down on his hands, and groaned
inwardly; for he was very sick, and the fumes of last night's punch
still disturbed his brain. His stockings and drawers were on; for
Terry, when he put him to bed, considered it only waste of time to pull
them off, for "shure wouldn't they have jist to go on agin the next
morning?"
"Don't be particular, Mr Lynch: never mind washing or shaving till
we're gone. We won't keep you long, I hope."
"You're very kind, I must say," said Barry. "I suppose you won't object
to my having a bottle of soda water?"--and he gave a terrible tug at
the bell.
"Not at all--nor a glass of brandy in it, if you like it. Indeed, Mr
Lynch, I think that, just at present, it will be the better thing for
you."
Barry got his bottle of soda water, and swallowed about two glasses of
whiskey in it, for brandy was beginning to be scarce with him; and then
commenced his toilet. He took Parson Armstrong's hint, and wasn't very
particular about it. He huddled on his clothes, smoothed his hair with
his brush, and muttering something about it's being their own fault,
descended into the parlour, followed by Mr Armstrong. He made a kind of
bow to Lord Ballindine; took no notice of Martin, but, turning round
sharp on the doctor, said:
"Of all the false ruffians, I ever met, Colligan--by heavens, you're
the worst! There's one comfort, no man in Dunmore will believe a word
you say." He then threw himself back into the easy chair, and said,
"Well, gentlemen--well, my lord--here I am. You can't say I'm ashamed
to show my face, though I must say your visit is not made in the
genteelest manner."
"Mr Lynch," said the parson, "do you remember the night Doctor Colligan
knocked you down in this room? In this room, wasn't it, doctor?"
"Yes; in this room," said the doctor, rather _sotto voce_.
"Do you remember the circumstance, Mr Lynch?"
"It's a lie!" said Barry.
"No it's not," said the parson. "If you forget it, I can call in the
servant to remember so much as that for me; but you'll find it better,
Mr Lynch, to let us finish this business among ourselves. Come, think
about it. I'm sure you remember being knocked down by the doctor."
"I remember a scrimmage there was between us. I don't care what the
girl says, she didn't see it. Colligan, I suppose, has given her
half-a-crown, and she'd swear anything for that."
"Well, you remember the night of the scrimmage?"
"I do: Colligan got drunk here one night. He wanted me to give him a
farm, and said cursed queer things about my sister. I hardly know what
he said; but I know I had to turn him out of the house, and there was a
scrimmage between us."
"I see you're so far prepared, Mr Lynch: now, I'll tell you my version
of the story.--Martin Kelly, just see that the door is shut. You
endeavoured to bribe Doctor Colligan to murder your own sister."
"It's a most infernal lie!" said Barry. "Where's your
evidence?--where's your evidence? What's the good of your all coming
here with such a story as that? Where's your evidence?"
"You'd better be quiet, Mr Lynch, or we'll adjourn at once from here to
the open Court-house."
"Adjourn when you like; it's all one to me. Who'll believe such a
drunken ruffian as that Colligan, I'd like to know? Such a story as
that!"
"My lord," said Armstrong, "I'm afraid we must go on with this business
at the Court-house. Martin, I believe I must trouble you to go down to
the police barrack." And the whole party, except Barry, rose from their
seats.
"What the devil are you going to drag me down to the Court-house for,
gentlemen?" said he. "I'll give you any satisfaction, but you can't
expect I'll own to such a lie as this about my sister. I suppose my
word's as good as Colligan's, gentlemen? I suppose my character as a
Protestant gentleman stands higher than his--a dirty Papist apothecary.
He tells one story; I tell another; only he's got the first word of me,
that's all. I suppose, gentlemen, I'm not to be condemned on the word
of such a man as that?"
"I think, Mr Lynch," said Armstrong, "if you'll listen to me, you'll
save yourself and us a great deal of trouble. You asked me who my
witness was: my witness is in this house. I would not charge you with
so horrid, so damnable a crime, had I not thoroughly convinced myself
you were guilty--now, do hold your tongue, Mr Lynch, or I will have you
down to the Court-house. We all know you are guilty, you know it
yourself--"
"I'm--" began Barry.
"Stop, Mr Lynch; not one word till I've done; or what I have to say,
shall be said in public. We all know you are guilty, but we probably
mayn't be able to prove it--"
"No, I should think not!" shouted Barry.
"We mayn't be able to prove it in such a way as to enable a jury to
hang you, or, upon my word, I wouldn't interfere to prevent it: the law
should have its course. I'd hang you with as little respite as I would
a dog."
Barry grinned horribly at this suggestion, but said nothing, and the
parson continued:
"It is not the want of evidence that stands in the way of so desirable
a proceeding, but that Doctor Colligan, thoroughly disgusted and
shocked at the iniquity of your proposal--"
"Oh, go on, Mr Armstrong!--go on; I see you are determined to have it
all your own way, but my turn'll come soon."
"I say that Doctor Colligan interrupted you before you fully committed
yourself."
"Fully committed myself, indeed! Why, Colligan knows well enough, that
when he got up in such a fluster, there'd not been a word at all said
about Anty."
"Hadn't there, Mr Lynch?--just now you said you turned the doctor out
of your house for speaking about your sister. You're only committing
yourself. I say, therefore, the evidence, though quite strong enough
to put you into the dock as a murderer in intention, might not be
sufficient to induce a jury to find you guilty. But guilty you would
be esteemed in the mind of every man, woman, and child in this county:
guilty of the wilful, deliberate murder of your own sister."
"By heavens I'll not stand this!" exclaimed Barry.--"I'll not stand
this! I didn't do it, Mr Armstrong. I didn't do it. He's a liar, Lord
Ballindine: upon my sacred word and honour as a gentleman, he's a
liar. Why do you believe him, when you won't believe me? Ain't I a
Protestant, Mr Armstrong, and ain't you a Protestant clergyman? Don't
you know that such men as he will tell any lie; will do any dirty job?
On my sacred word of honour as a gentleman, Lord Ballindine, he offered
to poison Anty, on condition he got the farm round the house for
nothing!--He knows it's true, and why should you believe him sooner
than me, Mr Armstrong?"
Barry had got up from his seat, and was walking up and down the room,
now standing opposite Lord Ballindine, and appealing to him, and then
doing the same thing to Mr Armstrong. He was a horrid figure: he had no
collar round his neck, and his handkerchief was put on in such a way
as to look like a hangman's knot: his face was blotched, and red, and
greasy, for he had neither shaved nor washed himself since his last
night's debauch; he had neither waistcoat nor braces on, and his
trousers fell on his hips; his long hair hung over his eyes, which were
bleared and bloodshot; he was suffering dreadfully from terror, and an
intense anxiety to shift the guilt from himself to Doctor Colligan. He
was a most pitiable object--so wretched, so unmanned, so low in the
scale of creation. Lord Ballindine did pity his misery, and suggested
to Mr Armstrong whether by any possibility there could be any mistake
in the matter--whether it was possible Doctor Colligan could have
mistaken Lynch's object?--The poor wretch jumped at this loop-hole, and
doubly condemned himself by doing so.
"He did, then," said Barry; "he must have done so. As I hope for
heaven, Lord Ballindine, I never had the idea of getting him to--to
do anything to Anty. I wouldn't have done it for worlds--indeed I
wouldn't. There must be some mistake, indeed there must. He'd been
drinking, Mr Armstrong--drinking a good deal that night--isn't that
true, Doctor Colligan? Come, man, speak the truth--don't go and try and
hang a fellow out of mistake! His lordship sees it's all a mistake, and
of course he's the best able to judge of the lot here; a magistrate,
and a nobleman and all. I know you won't see me wronged, Lord
Ballindine, I know you won't. I give you my sacred word of honour as a
gentleman, it all came from mistake when we were both drunk, or nearly
drunk. Come, Doctor Colligan, speak man--isn't that the truth? I tell
you, Mr Armstrong, Lord Ballindine's in the right of it. There is some
mistake in all this."
"As sure as the Lord's in heaven," said the doctor, now becoming a
little uneasy at the idea that Lord Ballindine should think he had told
so strange a story without proper foundation--"as sure as the Lord's in
heaven, he offered me the farm for a reward, should I manage to prevent
his sister's recovery."
"What do you think, Mr Armstrong?" said Lord Ballindine.
"Think!" said the parson--"There's no possibility of thinking at all.
The truth becomes clearer every moment. Why, you wretched creature,
it's not ten minutes since you yourself accused Doctor Colligan
of offering to murder your sister! According to your own showing,
therefore, there was a deliberate conversation between you; and your
own evasion now would prove which of you were the murderer, were any
additional proof wanted. But it is not. Barry Lynch, as sure as you now
stand in the presence of your Creator, whose name you so constantly
blaspheme, you endeavoured to instigate that man to murder your own
sister."
"Oh, Lord Ballindine!--oh, Lord Ballindine!" shrieked Barry, in his
agony, "don't desert me! pray, pray don't desert me! I didn't do it--I
never thought of doing it. We were at school together, weren't we?--And
you won't see me put upon this way. You mayn't think much of me in
other things, but you won't believe that a school-fellow of your own
ever--ever--ever--" Barry couldn't bring himself to use the words with
which his sentence should be finished, and so he flung himself back
into his armchair and burst into tears.
"You appeal to me, Mr Lynch," said Lord Ballindine, "and I must say
I most firmly believe you to be guilty. My only doubt is whether you
should not at once be committed for trial at the next assizes."
"Oh, my G----!" exclaimed Barry, and for some time he continued
blaspheming most horribly--swearing that there was a conspiracy against
him--accusing Mr Armstrong, in the most bitter terms, of joining with
Doctor Colligan and Martin Kelly to rob and murder him.
"Now, Mr Lynch," continued the parson, as soon as the unfortunate man
would listen to him, "as I before told you, I am in doubt--we are all
in doubt--whether or not a jury would hang you; and we think that we
shall do more good to the community by getting you out of the way,
than by letting you loose again after a trial which will only serve to
let everyone know how great a wretch there is in the county. We will,
therefore, give you your option either to stand your trial, or to leave
the country at once--and for ever."
"And my property?--what's to become of my property?" said Barry.
"Your property's safe, Mr Lynch; we can't touch that. We're not
prescribing any punishment to you. We fear, indeed we know, you're
beyond the reach of the law, or we shouldn't make the proposal." Barry
breathed freely again as he heard this avowal. "But you're not beyond
the reach of public opinion--of public execration--of general hatred,
and of a general curse. For your sister's sake--for the sake of Martin
Kelly, who is going to marry the sister whom you wished to murder,
and not for your own sake, you shall be allowed to leave the country
without this public brand being put upon your name. If you remain, no
one shall speak to you but as to a man who would have murdered his
sister: murder shall be everlastingly muttered in your ears; nor will
your going then avail you, for your character shall go with you, and
the very blackguards with whom you delight to assort, shall avoid
you as being too bad even for their society. Go now, Mr Lynch--go at
once;--leave your sister to happiness which you cannot prevent; and she
at least shall know nothing of your iniquity, and you shall enjoy the
proceeds of your property anywhere you will--anywhere, that is, but in
Ireland. Do you agree to this?"
"I'm an innocent man, Mr Armstrong. I am indeed."
"Very well," said the parson, "then we may as well go away, and leave
you to your fate. Come, Lord Ballindine, we can have nothing further to
say," and they again all rose from their seats.
"Stop, Mr Armstrong; stop," said Barry.
"Well," said the parson; for Barry repressed the words which were in
his mouth, when he found that his visitors did stop as he desired them.
"Well, Mr Lynch, what have you further to say."
"Indeed I am not guilty." Mr Armstrong put on his hat and rushed to the
door--"but--" continued Barry.
"I will have no 'buts,' Mr Lynch; will you at once and unconditionally
agree to the terms I have proposed?"
"I don't want to live in the country," said Barry; "the country's
nothing to me."
"You will go then, immediately?" said the parson.
"As soon as I have arranged about the property, I will," said Barry.
"That won't do," said the parson. "You must go at once, and leave your
property to the care of others. You must leave Dunmore _to-day_, for
ever."
"To-day!" shouted Barry.
"Yes, to-day. You can easily get as far as Roscommon. You have your
own horse and car. And, what is more, before you go, you must write to
your sister, telling her that you have made up your mind to leave the
country, and expressing your consent to her marrying whom she pleases."
"I can't go to-day," said Barry, sulkily. "Who's to receive my rents?
who'll send me my money?--besides--besides. Oh, come--that's nonsense.
I ain't going to be turned out in that style."
"You ain't in earnest, are you, about his going to-day?" whispered
Frank to the parson.
"I am, and you'll find he'll go, too," said Armstrong. "It must be
to-day--this very day, Mr Lynch. Martin Kelly will manage for you about
the property."
"Or you can send for Mr Daly, to meet you at Roscommon," suggested
Martin.
"Thank you for nothing," said Barry; "you'd better wait till you're
spoken to. I don't know what business you have here at all."
"The business that all honest men have to look after all rogues," said
Mr Armstrong. "Come, Mr Lynch, you'd better make up your mind to
prepare for your journey."
"Well, I won't--and there's an end of it," said Barry. "It's all
nonsense. You can't do anything to me: you said so yourself. I'm not
going to be made a fool of that way--I'm not going to give up my
property and everything."
"Don't you know, Mr Lynch," said the parson, "that if you are kept in
jail till April next, as will be your fate if you persist in staying
at Dunmore tonight, your creditors will do much more damage to your
property, than your own immediate absence will do? If Mr Daly is your
lawyer, send for him, as Martin Kelly suggests. I'm not afraid that he
will recommend you to remain in the country, even should you dare to
tell him of the horrid accusation which is brought against you. But at
any rate make up your mind, for if you do stay in Dunmore tonight it
shall be in the Bridewell, and your next move shall be to Galway."
Barry sat silent for a while, trying to think. The parson was like an
incubus upon him, which he was totally unable to shake off. He knew
neither how to resist nor how to give way. Misty ideas got into his
head of escaping to his bed-room and blowing his own brains out.
Different schemes of retaliation and revenge flitted before him, but
he could decide on nothing. There he sat, silent, stupidly gazing at
nothing, while Lord Ballindine and Mr Armstrong stood whispering over
the fire.
"I'm afraid we're in the wrong: I really think we are," said Frank.
"We must go through with it now, any way," said the parson. "Come, Mr
Lynch, I will give you five minutes more, and then I go;" and he pulled
out his watch, and stood with his back to the fire, looking at it. Lord
Ballindine walked to the window, and Martin Kelly and Doctor Colligan
sat in distant parts of the room, with long faces, silent and solemn,
breathing heavily. How long those five minutes appeared to them, and
how short to Barry! The time was not long enough to enable him to come
to any decision: at the end of the five minutes he was still gazing
vacantly before him: he was still turning over in his brain, one after
another, the same crowd of undigested schemes.
"The time is out, Mr Lynch: will you go?" said the parson.
"I've no money," hoarsely croaked Barry.
"If that's the only difficulty, we'll raise money for him," said Frank.
"I'll advance him money," said Martin.
"Do you mean you've no money at all?" said the parson.
"Don't you hear me say so?" said Barry.
"And you'll go if you get money--say ten pounds?" said the parson.
"Ten pounds! I can go nowhere with ten pounds. You know that well
enough."
"I'll give him twenty-five," said Martin. "I'm sure his sister'll do
that for him."
"Say fifty," said Barry, "and I'm off at once."
"I haven't got it," said Martin.
"No," said the parson; "I'll not see you bribed to go: take the
twenty-five--that will last you till you make arrangements about your
property. We are not going to pay you for going, Mr Lynch."
"You seem very anxious about it, any way."
"I am anxious about it," rejoined the parson. "I am anxious to save
your sister from knowing what it was that her brother wished to
accomplish."
Barry scowled at him as though he would like, if possible, to try his
hand at murdering him; but he did not answer him again. Arrangements
were at last made for Barry's departure, and off he went, that very
day--not to Roscommon, but to Tuam; and there, at the instigation of
Martin, Daly the attorney took upon himself the division and temporary
management of the property. From thence, with Martin's, or rather with
his sister's twenty-five pounds in his pocket, he started to that
Elysium for which he had for some time so ardently longed, and soon
landed at Boulogne, regardless alike of his sister, his future brother,
Lord Ballindine, or Mr Armstrong. The parson had found it quite
impossible to carry out one point on which he had insisted. He could
not induce Barry Lynch to write to his sister: no, not a line; not a
word. Had it been to save him from hanging he could hardly have induced
himself to write those common words, "_dear sister_".
"Oh! you can tell her what you like," said he. "It's you're making me
go away at once in this manner. Tell her whatever confounded lies you
like; tell her I'm gone because I didn't choose to stay and see her
make a fool of herself--and that's the truth, too. If it wasn't for
that I wouldn't move a step for any of you."
He went, however, as I have before said, and troubled the people of
Dunmore no longer, nor shall he again trouble us.
"Oh! but Martin, what nonsense!" said the widow, coaxingly to her son,
that night before she went to bed. "The lord wouldn't be going up there
just to wish him good bye--and Parson Armstrong too. What the dickens
could they be at there so long? Come, Martin--you're safe with me, you
know; tell us something about it now."
"Nonsense, mother; I've nothing to tell: Barry Lynch has left the place
for good and all, that's all about it."
"God bless the back of him, thin; he'd my lave for going long since.
But you might be telling us what made him be starting this way all of a
heap."
"Don't you know, mother, he was head and ears in debt?"
"Don't tell me," said the widow. "Parson Armstrong's not a sheriff's
officer, that he should be looking after folks in debt."
"No, mother, he's not, that I know of; but he don't like, for all that,
to see his tithes walking out of the country."
"Don't be coming over me that way, Martin. Barry Lynch, nor his father
before him, never held any land in Ballindine parish."
"Didn't they--well thin, you know more than I, mother, so it's no use
my telling you," and Martin walked off to bed.
"I'll even you, yet, my lad," said she, "close as you are; you see
else. Wait awhile, till the money's wanting, and then let's see who'll
know all about it!" And the widow slapped herself powerfully on that
part where her pocket depended, in sign of the great confidence she had
in the strength of her purse.
"Did I manage that well?" said the parson, as Lord Ballindine drove him
home to Kelly's Court, as soon as the long interview was over. "If I
can do as well at Grey Abbey, you'll employ me again, I think!"
"Upon my word, then, Armstrong," said Frank, "I never was in such hot
water as I have been all this day: and, now it's over, to tell you the
truth, I'm sorry we interfered. We did what we had no possible right to
do."
"Nonsense, man. You don't suppose I'd have dreamed of letting him off,
if the law could have touched him? But it couldn't. No magistrates in
the county could have committed him; for he had done, and, as far as
I can judge, had said, literally nothing. It's true we know what he
intended; but a score of magistrates could have done nothing with him:
as it is, we've got him out of the country: he'll never come back
again."
"What I mean is, we had no business to drive him out of the country
with threats."
"Oh, Ballindine, that's nonsense. One can keep no common terms with
such a blackguard as that. However, it's done now; and I must say I
think it was well done."
"There's no doubt of your talent in the matter, Armstrong: upon my soul
I never saw anything so cool. What a wretch--what an absolute fiend the
fellow is!"
"Bad enough," said the parson. "I've seen bad men before, but I think
he's the worst I ever saw. What'll Mrs O'Kelly say of my coming in this
way, without notice?"
The parson enjoyed his claret at Kelly's Court that evening, after his
hard day's work, and the next morning he started for Grey Abbey.
XXXVI. MR ARMSTRONG VISITS GREY ABBEY ON A DELICATE MISSION
Lord Cashel certainly felt a considerable degree of relief when his
daughter told him that Lord Kilcullen had left the house, and was on
his way to Dublin, though he had been forced to pay so dearly for the
satisfaction, had had to falsify his solemn assurance that he would
not give his son another penny, and to break through his resolution of
acting the Roman father [50]. He consoled himself with the idea that he had
been actuated by affection for his profligate son; but such had not
been the case. Could he have handed him over to the sheriff's officer
silently and secretly, he would have done so; but his pride could not
endure the reflection that all the world should know that bailiffs had
forced an entry into Grey Abbey.
[FOOTNOTE 50: Roman father--Lucius Junius Brutus, legendary
founder of the Roman republic, was said to have
passed sentence of death on his two sons for
participating in a rebellion.]
He closely questioned Lady Selina, with regard to all that had passed
between her and her brother.
"Did he say anything?" at last he said--"did he say anything
about--about Fanny?"
"Not much, papa; but what he did say, he said with kindness and
affection," replied her ladyship, glad to repeat anything in favour of
her brother.
"Affection--pooh!" said the earl. "He has no affection; no affection
for any one; he has no affection even for me.--What did he say about
her, Selina?"
"He seemed to wish she should marry Lord Ballindine."
"She may marry whom she pleases, now," said the earl. "I wash my hands
of her. I have done my best to prevent what I thought a disgraceful
match for her--"
"It would not have been disgraceful, papa, had she married him six
months ago."
"A gambler and a _roué_!" said the earl, forgetting, it is to be
supposed, for the moment, his own son's character. "She'll marry him
now, I suppose, and repent at her leisure. I'll give myself no further
trouble about it."
The earl thought upon the subject, however, a good deal; and before Mr
Armstrong's arrival he had all but made up his mind that he must again
swallow his word, and ask his ward's lover back to his house. He had at
any rate become assured that if he did not do so, some one else would
do it for him.
Mr Armstrong was, happily, possessed of a considerable stock of
self-confidence, and during his first day's journey, felt no want of it
with regard to the delicate mission with which he was entrusted. But
when he had deposited his carpet-bag at the little hotel at Kilcullen
bridge, and found himself seated on a hack car, and proceeding to Grey
Abbey, he began to feel that he had rather a difficult part to play;
and by the time that the house was in sight, he felt himself completely
puzzled as to the manner in which he should open his negotiation.
He had, however, desired the man to drive to the house, and he could
not well stop the car in the middle of the demesne, to mature his
plans; and when he was at the door he could not stay there without
applying for admission. So he got his card-case in his hand, and rang
the bell. After a due interval, which to the parson did not seem a bit
too long, the heavy-looking, powdered footman appeared, and announced
that Lord Cashel was at home; and, in another minute Mr Armstrong found
himself in the book-room.
It was the morning after Lord Kilcullen's departure, and Lord Cashel
was still anything but comfortable. Her ladyship had been bothering him
about the poor boy, as she called her son, now that she learned he was
in distress; and had been beseeching him to increase his allowance.
The earl had not told his wife the extent of their son's pecuniary
delinquencies, and consequently she was greatly dismayed when her
husband very solemnly said,
"My lady, Lord Kilcullen has no longer any allowance from me."
"Good gracious!" screamed her ladyship; "no allowance?--how is the poor
boy to live?"
"That I really cannot tell. I cannot even guess; but, let him live how
he may, I will not absolutely ruin myself for his sake."
The interview was not a comfortable one, either to the father or
mother. Lady Cashel cried a great deal, and was very strongly of
opinion that her son would die of cold and starvation: "How could
he get shelter or food, any more than a common person, if he had no
allowance? Mightn't he, at any rate, come back, and live at Grey
Abbey?--That wouldn't cost his father anything." And then the countess
remembered how she had praised her son to Mrs Ellison, and the bishop's
wife; and she cried worse than ever, and was obliged to be left to
Griffiths and her drops.
This happened on the evening of Lord Kilcullen's departure, and on the
next morning her ladyship did not appear at breakfast. She was weak
and nervous, and had her tea in her own sitting-room. There was no one
sitting at breakfast but the earl, Fanny, and Lady Selina, and they
were all alike, stiff, cold, and silent. The earl felt as if he were
not at home even in his own breakfast-parlour; he felt afraid of his
ward, as though he were conscious that she knew how he had intended
to injure her: and, as soon as he had swallowed his eggs, he muttered
something which was inaudible to both the girls, and retreated to his
private den.
He had not been there long before the servant brought in our friend's
name. "The Rev. George Armstrong", written on a plain card. The parson
had not put the name of his parish, fearing that the earl, knowing
from whence he came, might guess his business, and decline seeing him.
As it was, no difficulty was made, and the parson soon found himself
_tête-à-tête_ with the earl.
"I have taken the liberty of calling on you, Lord Cashel," said Mr
Armstrong, having accepted the offer of a chair, "on a rather delicate
mission."
The earl bowed, and rubbed his hands, and felt more comfortable than he
had done for the last week. He liked delicate missions coming to him,
for he flattered himself that he knew how to receive them in a delicate
manner; he liked, also, displaying his dignity to strangers, for he
felt that strangers stood rather in awe of him: he also felt, though he
did not own it to himself, that his manner was not so effective with
people who had known him some time.
"I may say, a very delicate mission," said the parson; "and one I would
not have undertaken had I not known your lordship's character for
candour and honesty."
Lord Cashel again bowed and rubbed his hands.
"I am, my lord, a friend of Lord Ballindine; and as such I have taken
the liberty of calling on your lordship."
"A friend of Lord Ballindine?" said the earl, arching his eyebrows, and
assuming a look of great surprise.
"A very old friend, my lord; the clergyman of his parish, and for many
years an intimate friend of his father. I have known Lord Ballindine
since he was a child."
"Lord Ballindine is lucky in having such a friend: few young men now,
I am sorry to say, care much for their father's friends. Is there
anything, Mr Armstrong, in which I can assist either you or his
lordship?"
"My lord," said the parson, "I need not tell you that before I took the
perhaps unwarrantable liberty of troubling you, I was made acquainted
with Lord Ballindine's engagement with your ward, and with the manner
in which that engagement was broken off."
"And your object is, Mr Armstrong--?"
"My object is to remove, if possible, the unfortunate misunderstanding
between your lordship and my friend."
"Misunderstanding, Mr Armstrong?--There was no misunderstanding between
us. I really think we perfectly understood each other. Lord Ballindine
was engaged to my ward; his engagement, however, being contingent on
his adoption of a certain line of conduct. This line of conduct his
lordship did not adopt; perhaps, he used a wise discretion; however, I
thought not. I thought the mode of life which he pursued--"
"But--"
"Pardon me a moment, Mr Armstrong, and I shall have said all which
appears to me to be necessary on the occasion; perhaps more than is
necessary; more probably than I should have allowed myself to say, had
not Lord Ballindine sent as his ambassador the clergyman of his parish
and the friend of his father," and Lord Cashel again bowed and rubbed
his hands. "I thought, Mr Armstrong, that your young friend appeared
wedded to a style of life quite incompatible with his income--with
his own income as a single man, and the income which he would have
possessed had he married my ward. I thought that their marriage would
only lead to poverty and distress, and I felt that I was only doing my
duty to my ward in expressing this opinion to her. I found that she
was herself of the same opinion; that she feared a union with Lord
Ballindine would not ensure happiness either to him or to herself. His
habits were too evidently those of extravagance, and hers had not been
such as to render a life of privation anything but a life of misery."
"I had thought--"
"One moment more, Mr Armstrong, and I shall have done. After
mature consideration, Miss Wyndham commissioned me to express her
sentiments,--and I must say they fully coincided with my own,--to Lord
Ballindine, and to explain to him, that she found herself obliged
to--to--to retrace the steps which she had taken in the matter. I did
this in a manner as little painful to Lord Ballindine as I was able.
It is difficult, Mr Armstrong, to make a disagreeable communication
palatable; it is very difficult to persuade a young man who is in love,
to give up the object of his idolatry; but I trust Lord Ballindine
will do me the justice to own that, on the occasion alluded to, I said
nothing unnecessarily harsh--nothing calculated to harass his feelings.
I appreciate and esteem Lord Ballindine's good qualities, and I much
regretted that prudence forbad me to sanction the near alliance he was
anxious to do me the honour of making with me."
Lord Cashel finished his harangue, and felt once more on good terms
with himself. He by no means intended offering any further vehement
resistance to his ward's marriage. He was, indeed, rejoiced to have
an opportunity of giving way decently. But he could not resist the
temptation of explaining his conduct, and making a speech.
"My lord," said the parson, "what you tell me is only a repetition of
what I heard from my young friend."
"I am glad to hear it. I trust, then, I may have the pleasure of
feeling that Lord Ballindine attributes to me no personal unkindness?"
"Not in the least, Lord Cashel; very far from it. Though Lord
Ballindine may not be--may not hitherto have been, free from the
follies of his age, he has had quite sense enough to appreciate your
lordship's conduct."
"I endeavoured, at any rate, that it should be such as to render me
liable to no just imputation of fickleness or cruelty."
"No one would for a moment accuse your lordship of either. It is my
knowledge of your lordship's character in this particular which has
induced me to undertake the task of begging you to reconsider the
subject. Lord Ballindine has, you are aware, sold his race-horses."
"I had heard so, Mr Armstrong; though, perhaps, not on good authority."
"He has; and is now living among his own tenantry and friends at
Kelly's Court. He is passionately, devotedly attached to your ward,
Lord Cashel; and with a young man's vanity he still thinks that she may
not be quite indifferent to him."
"It was at her own instance, Mr Armstrong, that his suit was rejected."
"I am well aware of that, my lord. But ladies, you know, do sometimes
mistake their own feelings. Miss Wyndham must have been attached to my
friend, or she would not have received him as her lover. Will you, my
lord, allow me to see Miss Wyndham? If she still expresses indifference
to Lord Ballindine, I will assure her that she shall be no further
persecuted by his suit. If such be not the case, surely prudence need
not further interfere to prevent a marriage desired by both the persons
most concerned. Lord Ballindine is not now a spendthrift, whatever he
may formerly have been; and Miss Wyndham's princely fortune, though it
alone would never have induced my friend to seek her hand, will make
the match all that it should be. You will not object, my lord, to my
seeing Miss Wyndham?"
"Mr Armstrong--really--you must be aware such a request is rather
unusual."
"So are the circumstances," replied the parson. "They also are unusual.
I do not doubt Miss Wyndham's wisdom in rejecting Lord Ballindine,
when, as you say, he appeared to be wedded to a life of extravagance.
I have no doubt she put a violent restraint on her own feelings;
exercised, in fact, a self-denial which shows a very high tone of
character, and should elicit nothing but admiration; but circumstances
are much altered."
Lord Cashel continued to raise objections to the parson's request,
though it was, throughout the interview, his intention to accede to it.
At last, he gave up the point, with much grace, and in such a manner
as he thought should entitle him to the eternal gratitude of his ward,
Lord Ballindine, and the parson. He consequently rang the bell, and
desired the servant to give his compliments to Miss Wyndham and tell
her that the Rev. Mr Armstrong wished to see her, alone, upon business
of importance.
Mr Armstrong felt that his success was much greater than he had had any
reason to expect, from Lord Ballindine's description of his last visit
at Grey Abbey. He had, in fact, overcome the only difficulty. If Miss
Wyndham really disliked his friend, and objected to the marriage, Mr
Armstrong was well aware that he had only to return, and tell his
friend so in the best way he could. If, however, she still had a true
regard for him, if she were the Fanny Wyndham Ballindine had described
her to be, if she had ever really been devoted to him, if she had at
all a wish in her heart to see him again at her feet, the parson felt
that he would have good news to send back to Kelly's Court; and that he
would have done the lovers a service which they never could forget.
"At any rate, Mr Armstrong," said Lord Cashel, as the parson was bowing
himself backwards out of the room, "you will join our family circle
while you are in the neighbourhood. Whatever may be the success of your
mission--and I assure you I hope it may be such as will be gratifying
to you, I am happy to make the acquaintance of any friend of Lord
Ballindine's, when Lord Ballindine chooses his friends so well." (This
was meant as a slap at Dot Blake.) "You will give me leave to send down
to the town for your luggage." Mr Armstrong made no objection to this
proposal, and the luggage was sent for.
The powder-haired servant again took him in tow, and ushered him out of
the book-room, across the hall through the billiard-room, and into the
library; gave him a chair, and then brought him a newspaper, giving him
to understand that Miss Wyndham would soon be with him.
The parson took the paper in his hands, but he did not trouble himself
much with the contents of it. What was he to say to Miss Wyndham?--how
was he to commence? He had never gone love-making for another in his
life; and now, at his advanced age, it really did come rather strange
to him. And then he began to think whether she were short or tall, dark
or fair, stout or slender. It certainly was very odd, but, in all their
conversations on the subject, Lord Ballindine had never given him any
description of his inamorata. Mr Armstrong, however, had not much time
to make up his mind on any of these points, for the door opened, and
Miss Wyndham entered.
She was dressed in black, for she was, of course, still in mourning for
her brother; but, in spite of her sable habiliments, she startled the
parson by the brilliance of her beauty. There was a quiet dignity of
demeanour natural to Fanny Wyndham; a well-balanced pose, and a grace
of motion, which saved her from ever looking awkward or confused. She
never appeared to lose her self-possession. Though never arrogant, she
seemed always to know what was due to herself. No insignificant puppy
could ever have attempted to flirt with her.
When summoned by the servant to meet a strange clergyman alone in the
library, at the request of Lord Cashel, she felt that his visit must
have some reference to her lover; indeed, her thoughts for the last few
days had run on little else. She had made up her mind to talk to her
cousin about him; then, her cousin had matured that determination
by making love to her himself: then, she had talked to him of Lord
Ballindine, and he had promised to talk to his father on the same
subject; and she had since been endeavouring to bring herself to make
one other last appeal to her uncle's feelings. Her mind was therefore,
full of Lord Ballindine, when she walked into the library. But her face
was no tell-tale; her gait and demeanour were as dignified as though
she had no anxious love within her heart--no one grand desire, to
disturb the even current of her blood. She bowed her beautiful head to
Mr Armstrong as she walked into the room, and, sitting down herself,
begged him to take a chair.
The parson had by no means made up his mind as to what he was to say to
the young lady, so he shut his eyes, and rushed at once into the middle
of his subject. "Miss Wyndham," he said, "I have come a long way to
call on you, at the request of a friend of yours--a very dear and old
friend of mine--at the request of Lord Ballindine."
Fanny's countenance became deeply suffused at her lover's name, but the
parson did not observe it; indeed he hardly ventured to look in her
face. She merely said, in a voice which seemed to him to be anything
but promising, "Well, sir?" The truth was, she did not know what to
say. Had she dared, she would have fallen on her knees before her
lover's friend, and sworn to him how well she loved him.
"When Lord Ballindine was last at Grey Abbey, Miss Wyndham, he had not
the honour of an interview with you."
"No, sir," said Fanny. Her voice, look, and manner were still sedate
and courtly; her heart, however, was beating so violently that she
hardly knew what she said.
"Circumstances, I believe, prevented it," said the parson. "My
friend, however, received, through Lord Cashel, a message from you,
which--which--which has been very fatal to his happiness."
Fanny tried to say something, but she was not able.
"The very decided tone in which your uncle then spoke to him, has made
Lord Ballindine feel that any further visit to Grey Abbey on his own
part would be an intrusion."
"I never--" said Fanny, "I never--"
"You never authorised so harsh a message, you would say. It is not the
harshness of the language, but the certainty of the fact, that has
destroyed my friend's happiness. If such were to be the case--if it
were absolutely necessary that the engagement between you and Lord
Ballindine should be broken off, the more decided the manner in which
it were done, the better. Lord Ballindine now wishes--I am a bad
messenger in such a case as this, Miss Wyndham: it is, perhaps, better
to tell you at once a plain tale. Frank has desired me to tell you that
he loves you well and truly; that he cannot believe you are indifferent
to him; that your vows, to him so precious, are still ringing in his
ears; that he is, as far as his heart is concerned, unchanged; and
he has commissioned me to ascertain from yourself, whether you--have
really changed your mind since he last had the pleasure of seeing
you." The parson waited a moment for an answer, and then added, "Lord
Ballindine by no means wishes to persecute you on the subject; nor
would I do so, if he did wish it. You have only to tell me that you do
not intend to renew your acquaintance with Lord Ballindine, and I will
leave Grey Abbey." Fanny still remained silent. "Say the one word 'go',
Miss Wyndham, and you need not pain yourself by any further speech. I
will at once be gone."
Fanny strove hard to keep her composure, and to make some fitting reply
to Mr Armstrong, but she was unable. Her heart was too full; she was
too happy. She had, openly, and in spite of rebuke, avowed her love to
her uncle, her aunt, to Lady Selina, and her cousin. But she could not
bring herself to confess it to Mr Armstrong. At last she said:
"I am much obliged to you for your kindness, Mr Armstrong. Perhaps I
owe it to Lord Ballindine to--to . . . I will ask my uncle, sir, to
write to him."
"I shall write to Lord Ballindine this evening, Miss Wyndham; will you
intrust me with no message? I came from him, to see you, with no other
purpose. I must give him some news: I must tell him I have seen you.
May I tell him not to despair?"
"Tell him--tell him--" said Fanny,--and she paused to make up her mind
as to the words of her message,--"tell him to come himself." And,
hurrying from the room, she left the parson alone, to meditate on the
singular success of his mission. He stood for about half an hour,
thinking over what had occurred, and rejoicing greatly in his mind that
he had undertaken the business. "What fools men are about women!" he
said at last, to himself. "They know their nature so well when they are
thinking and speaking of them with reference to others; but as soon as
a man is in love with one himself, he is cowed! He thinks the nature
of one woman is different from that of all others, and he is afraid to
act on his general knowledge. Well; I might as well write to him! for,
thank God, I can send him good news"--and he rang the bell, and asked
if his bag had come. It had, and was in his bed-room. "Could the
servant get him pen, ink, and paper?" The servant did so; and, within
two hours of his entering the doors of Grey Abbey, he was informing his
friend of the success of his mission.
XXXVII. VENI; VIDI; VICI [51]
[FOOTNOTE 51: Veni; vidi; vici--(Latin) Julius Caesar's terse
message to the Senate announcing his victory over
King Pharnaces II of Pontus in 47 B.C.: "I came,
I saw, I conquered."]
The two following letters for Lord Ballindine were sent off, in the
Grey Abbey post-bag, on the evening of the day on which Mr Armstrong
had arrived there. They were from Mr Armstrong and Lord Cashel. That
from the former was first opened.
Grey Abbey, April, 1844
Dear Frank,
You will own I have not lost much time. I left Kelly's Court the day
before yesterday and I am already able to send you good news. I have
seen Lord Cashel, and have found him anything but uncourteous. I
have also seen Miss Wyndham, and though she said but little to me,
that little was just what you would have wished her to say. She
bade me tell you to come yourself. In obedience to her commands, I
do hereby require you to pack yourself up, and proceed forthwith
to Grey Abbey. His lordship has signified to me that it is his
intention, in his own and Lady Cashel's name, to request the renewed
pleasure of an immediate, and, he hopes, a prolonged visit from your
lordship. You will not, my dear Frank, I am sure, be such a fool as
to allow your dislike to such an empty butter-firkin as this earl,
to stand in the way of your love or your fortune. You can't expect
Miss Wyndham to go to you, so pocket your resentment like a sensible
fellow, and accept Lord Cashel's invitation as though there had been
no difference between you.
I have also received an invite, and intend staying here a day or
two. I can't say that, judging from the master of the house, I think
that a prolonged sojourn would be very agreeable. I have, as yet,
seen none of the ladies, except my embryo Lady Ballindine.
I think I have done my business a little in the _veni vidi vici_
style. What has effected the change in Lord Cashel's views, I need
not trouble myself to guess. You will soon learn all about it from
Miss Wyndham.
I will not, in a letter, express my admiration, &c., &c., &c. But I
will proclaim in Connaught, on my return, that so worthy a bride was
never yet brought down to the far west. Lord Cashel will, of course,
have some pet bishop or dean to marry you; but, after what has
passed, I shall certainly demand the privilege of christening the
heir.
Believe me, dear Frank,
Your affectionate friend,
GEORGE ARMSTRONG.
Lord Cashel's letter was as follows. It cost his lordship three hours
to compose, and was twice copied. I trust, therefore, it is a fair
specimen of what a nobleman ought to write on such an occasion.
Grey Abbey, April, 1844.
My dear lord,
Circumstances, to which I rejoice that I need not now more
particularly allude, made your last visit at my house a disagreeable
one to both of us. The necessity under which I then laboured, of
communicating to your lordship a decision which was likely to be
inimical to your happiness, but to form which my duty imperatively
directed me, was a source of most serious inquietude to my mind. I
now rejoice that that decision was so painful to you--has been so
lastingly painful; as I trust I may measure your gratification at a
renewal of your connection with my family, by the acuteness of the
sufferings which an interruption of that connexion has occasioned
you.
I have, I can assure you, my lord, received much pleasure from the
visit of your very estimable friend, the Reverend Mr Armstrong; and
it is no slight addition to my gratification on this occasion, to
find your most intimate friendship so well bestowed. I have had much
unreserved conversation to-day with Mr Armstrong, and I am led by
him to believe that I may be able to induce you to give Lady Cashel
and myself the pleasure of your company at Grey Abbey. We shall be
truly delighted to see your lordship, and we sincerely hope that the
attractions of Grey Abbey may be such as to induce you to prolong
your visit for some time.
Perhaps it might be unnecessary for me now more explicitly to allude
to my ward; but still, I cannot but think that a short but candid
explanation of the line of conduct I have thought it my duty to
adopt, may prevent any disagreeable feeling between us, should you,
as I sincerely trust you will, do us the pleasure of joining our
family circle. I must own, my dear lord, that, a few months since, I
feared you were wedded to the expensive pleasures of the turf.--Your
acceptance of the office of Steward at the Curragh meetings
confirmed the reports which reached me from various quarters. My
ward's fortune was then not very considerable; and, actuated by an
uncle's affection for his niece as well as a guardian's caution for
his ward, I conceived it my duty to ascertain whether a withdrawal
from the engagement in contemplation between Miss Wyndham and
yourself would be detrimental to her happiness. I found that my
ward's views agreed with my own. She thought her own fortune
insufficient, seeing that your habits were then expensive: and,
perhaps, not truly knowing the intensity of her own affection, she
coincided in my views. You are acquainted with the result. These
causes have operated in inducing me to hope that I may still welcome
you by the hand as my dear niece's husband. Her fortune is very
greatly increased; your character is--I will not say altered--is now
fixed and established. And, lastly and chiefly, I find--I blush, my
lord, to tell a lady's secret--that my ward's happiness still
depends on you.
I am sure, my dear lord, I need not say more. We shall be delighted
to see you at your earliest convenience. We wish that you could have
come to us before your friend left, but I regret to learn from him
that his parochial duties preclude the possibility of his staying
with us beyond Thursday.
I shall anxiously wait for your reply. In the meantime I beg to
assure you, with the joint kind remembrances of all our party, that
I am,
Most faithfully yours,
CASHEL.
Mr Armstrong descended to the drawing-room, before dinner, looking most
respectable, with a stiff white tie and the new suit expressly prepared
for the occasion. He was introduced to Lady Cashel and Lady Selina as
a valued friend of Lord Ballindine, and was received, by the former at
least, in a most flattering manner. Lady Selina had hardly reconciled
herself to the return of Lord Ballindine. It was from no envy at her
cousin's happiness; she was really too high-minded, and too falsely
proud, also, to envy anyone. But it was the harsh conviction of her
mind, that no duties should be disregarded, and that all duties were
disagreeable: she was always opposed to the doing of anything which
appeared to be the especial wish of the person consulting her; because
it would be agreeable, she judged that it would be wrong. She was most
sincerely anxious for her poor dependents, but she tormented them most
cruelly. When Biddy Finn wished to marry, Lady Selina told her it
was her duty to put a restraint on her inclinations; and ultimately
prevented her, though there was no objection on earth to Tony Mara;
and when the widow Cullen wanted to open a little shop for soap and
candles, having eight pounds ten shillings left to stock it, after the
wake and funeral were over, Lady Selina told the widow it was her duty
to restrain her inclination, and she did so; and the eight pounds ten
shillings drifted away in quarters of tea, and most probably, half
noggins of whiskey.
In the same way, she could not bring herself to think that Fanny was
doing right, in following the bent of her dearest wishes--in marrying
this man she loved so truly. She was weak; she was giving way to
temptation; she was going back from her word; she was, she said, giving
up her claim to that high standard of feminine character, which it
should be the proudest boast of a woman to maintain.
It was in vain that her mother argued the point with her in her own
way. "But why shouldn't she marry him, my dear," said the countess,
"when they love each other--and now there's plenty of money and all
that; and your papa thinks it's all right? I declare I can't see the
harm of it."
"I don't say there's harm, mother," said Lady Selina; "not absolute
harm; but there's weakness. She had ceased to esteem Lord Ballindine."
"Ah, but, my dear, she very soon began to esteem him again. Poor dear!
she didn't know how well she loved him."
"She ought to have known, mamma--to have known well, before she
rejected him; but, having rejected him, no power on earth should have
induced her to name him, or even to think of him again. She should have
been dead to him; and he should have been the same as dead to her."
"Well, I don't know," said the countess; "but I'm sure I shall be
delighted to see anybody happy in the house again, and I always liked
Lord Ballindine myself. There was never any trouble about his dinners
or anything."
And Lady Cashel was delighted. The grief she had felt at the abrupt
termination of all her hopes with regard to her son had been too
much for her; she had been unable even to mind her worsted-work, and
Griffiths had failed to comfort her; but from the moment that her
husband had told her, with many hems and haws, that Mr Armstrong had
arrived to repeat Lord Ballindine's proposal, and that he had come to
consult her about again asking his lordship to Grey Abbey, she became
happy and light-hearted; and, before Griffiths had left her for the
night, she had commenced her consultations as to the preparations for
the wedding.
XXXVIII. WAIT TILL I TELL YOU
There was no one at dinner that first evening, but Mr Armstrong, and
the family circle; and the parson certainly felt it dull enough. Fanny,
naturally, was rather silent; Lady Selina did not talk a great deal;
the countess reiterated, twenty times, the pleasure she had in seeing
him at Grey Abbey, and asked one or two questions as to the quantity
of flannel it took to make petticoats for the old women in his
parish; but, to make up the rest, Lord Cashel talked incessantly. He
wished to show every attention to his guest, and he crammed him with
ecclesiastical conversation, till Mr Armstrong felt that, poor as he
was, and much as his family wanted the sun of lordly favour, he would
not give up his little living down in Connaught, where, at any rate, he
could do as he pleased, to be domestic chaplain to Lord Cashel, with a
salary of a thousand a-year.
The next morning was worse, and the whole of the long day was
insufferable. He endeavoured to escape from his noble friend into the
demesne, where he might have explored the fox coverts, and ascertained
something of the sporting capabilities of the country; but Lord Cashel
would not leave him alone for an instant; and he had not only to endure
the earl's tediousness, but also had to assume a demeanour which was
not at all congenial to his feelings. Lord Cashel would talk Church and
ultra-Protestantism to him, and descanted on the abominations of the
National system, and the glories of Sunday-schools. Now, Mr Armstrong
had no leaning to popery, and had nothing to say against Sunday
schools; but he had not one in his own parish, in which, by the
bye, he was the father of all the Protestant children to be found
there--without the slightest slur upon his reputation be it said. Lord
Cashel totally mistook his character, and Mr Armstrong did not know how
to set him right; and at five o'clock he went to dress, more tired than
he ever had been after hunting all day, and then riding home twelve
miles on a wet, dark night, with a lame horse.
To do honour to her guest Lady Cashel asked Mr O'Joscelyn, the rector,
together with his wife and daughters, to dine there on the second day;
and Mr Armstrong, though somewhat afraid of brother clergymen, was
delighted to hear that they were coming. Anything was better than
another _tête-à-tête_ with the ponderous earl. There were no other
neighbours near enough to Grey Abbey to be asked on so short a notice;
but the rector, his wife, and their daughters, entered the dining-room
punctually at half-past six.
The character and feelings of Mr O'Joscelyn were exactly those which
the earl had attributed to Mr Armstrong. He had been an Orangeman [52],
and was a most ultra and even furious Protestant. He was, by principle,
a charitable man to his neighbours; but he hated popery, and he carried
the feeling to such a length, that he almost hated Papists. He had not,
generally speaking, a bad opinion of human nature; but he would not
have considered his life or property safe in the hands of any Roman
Catholic. He pitied the ignorance of the heathen, the credulity of the
Mahommedan, the desolateness of the Jew, even the infidelity of the
atheist; but he execrated, abhorred, and abominated the Church of Rome.
"Anathema Maranatha [53]; get thee from me, thou child of Satan--go
out into utter darkness, thou worker of iniquity--into everlasting
lakes of fiery brimstone, thou doer of the devil's work--thou false
prophet--thou ravenous wolf!" Such was the language of his soul, at the
sight of a priest; such would have been the language of his tongue, had
not, as he thought, evil legislators given a licence to falsehood in
his unhappy country, and rendered it impossible for a true Churchman
openly to declare the whole truth.
[FOOTNOTE 52: Orangeman--a member of the Orange Order, a militant
Irish protestant organization founded in 1746 and
named after William of Orange, who in 1688 deposed
his father-in-law, Catholic King James II, became
King William III, and helped establish protestant
faith as a prerequisite for succession to the
English throne. The Orange Order is still exists
and remains rabidly anti-Catholic.]
[FOOTNOTE 53: Anathema Maranatha--an extreme form of
excommunication from the Catholic church formulated
by the Fathers of the Fourth Council of Toledo.
The person so excommunicated is also condemned to
damnation at the second coming.]
But though Mr O'Joscelyn did not absolutely give utterance to such
imprecations as these against the wolves who, as he thought, destroyed
the lambs of his flock,--or rather, turned his sheep into foxes,--yet
he by no means concealed his opinion, or hid his light under a bushel.
He spent his life--an eager, anxious, hard-working life, in denouncing
the scarlet woman of Babylon and all her abominations; and he did so
in season and out of season: in town and in country; in public and in
private; from his own pulpit, and at other people's tables; in highways
and byways; both to friends--who only partly agreed with him, and to
strangers, who did not agree with him at all. He totally disregarded
the feelings of his auditors; he would make use of the same language
to persons who might in all probability be Romanists, as he did to
those whom he knew to be Protestants. He was a most zealous and
conscientious, but a most indiscreet servant of his Master. He made
many enemies, but few converts. He rarely convinced his opponents, but
often disgusted his own party. He had been a constant speaker at public
meetings; an orator at the Rotunda, and, on one occasion, at Exeter
Hall. But even his own friends, the ultra Protestants, found that he
did the cause more harm than good, and his public exhibitions had been
as much as possible discouraged. Apart from his fanatical enthusiasm,
he was a good man, of pure life, and simple habits; and rejoiced
exceedingly, that, in the midst of the laxity in religious opinions
which so generally disfigured the age, his wife and his children were
equally eager and equally zealous with himself in the service of their
Great Master.
A beneficed clergyman from the most benighted, that is, most Papistical
portion of Connaught, would be sure, thought Mr O'Joscelyn, to have a
fellow-feeling with him; to sympathise with his wailings, and to have
similar woes to communicate.
"How many Protestants have you?" said he to Mr Armstrong, in the
drawing-room, a few minutes after they had been introduced to each
other. "I had two hundred and seventy in the parish on New Year's day;
and since that we've had two births, and a very proper Church of
England police-serjeant has been sent here, in place of a horrid
Papist. We've a great gain in Serjeant Woody, my lord."
"In one way we certainly have, Mr O'Joscelyn," said the earl. "I wish
all the police force were Protestants; I think they would be much more
effective. But Serjeant Carroll was a very good man; you know he was
removed from hence on his promotion."
"I know he was, my lord--just to please the priests just because he was
a Papist. Do you think there was a single thing done, or a word said at
Petty Sessions, but what Father Flannery knew all about it?--Yes, every
word. When did the police ever take any of Father Flannery's own
people?"
"Didn't Serjeant Carroll take that horrible man Leary, that robbed the
old widow that lived under the bridge?" said the countess.
"True, my lady, he did," said Mr O'Joscelyn; "but you'll find, if
you inquire, that Leary hadn't paid the priest his dues, nor yet
his brother. How a Protestant government can reconcile it to their
conscience--how they can sleep at night, after pandering to the priests
as they daily do, I cannot conceive. How many Protestants did you say
you have, Mr Armstrong?"
"We're not very strong down in the West, Mr O'Joscelyn," said the other
parson. "There are usually two or three in the Kelly's Court pew. The
vicarage pew musters pretty well, for Mrs Armstrong and five of the
children are always there. Then there are usually two policemen, and
the clerk; though, by the bye, he doesn't belong to the parish. I
borrowed him from Claremorris."
Mr O'Joscelyn gave a look of horror and astonishment.
"I can, however, make a boast, which perhaps you cannot, Mr Joscelyn:
all my parishioners are usually to be seen in church, and if one is
absent I'm able to miss him."
"It must paralyse your efforts, preaching to such a congregation," said
the other.
"Do not disparage my congregation," said Mr Armstrong, laughing; "they
are friendly and neighbourly, if not important in point of numbers;
and, if I wanted to fill my church, the Roman Catholics think so well
of me, that they'd flock in crowds there if I asked them; and the
priest would show them the way--for any special occasion, I mean; if
the bishop came to see me, or anything of that kind."
Mr O'Joscelyn was struck dumb; and, indeed, he would have had no time
to answer if the power of speech had been left to him, for the servant
announced dinner.
The conversation was a little more general during dinner-time, but
after dinner the parish clergyman returned to another branch of his
favourite subject. Perhaps, he thought that Mr Armstrong was himself
not very orthodox; or, perhaps, that it was useless to enlarge on the
abominations of Babylon to a Protestant peer and a Protestant parson;
but, on this occasion, he occupied himself with the temporal iniquities
of the Roman Catholics. The trial of O'Connell and his fellow-prisoners
had come to an end, and he and they, with one exception, had just.
commenced their period of imprisonment. The one exception was a
clergyman, who had been acquitted. He had in some way been connected
with Mr O'Joscelyn's parish; and, as the parish priest and most of his
flock were hot Repealers, there was a good deal of excitement on the
occasion,--rejoicings at the priest's acquittal, and howlings,
yellings, and murmurings at the condemnation of the others.
"We've fallen on frightful days, Mr Armstrong," said Mr O'Joscelyn:
"frightful, lawless, dangerous days."
"We must take them as we find them, Mr O'Joscelyn."
"Doubtless, Mr Armstrong, doubtless; and I acknowledge His infinite
wisdom, who, for His own purposes, now allows sedition to rear her head
unchecked, and falsehood to sit in the high places. They are indeed
dangerous days, when the sympathy of government is always with the evil
doers, and the religion of the state is deserted by the crown."
"Why, God bless me! Mr O'Joscelyn!--the queen hasn't turned Papist, and
the Repealers are all in prison, or soon will be there."
"I don't mean the queen. I believe she is very good. I believe she is a
sincere Protestant, God bless her;" and Mr O'Joscelyn, in his loyalty,
drank a glass of port wine; "but I mean her advisers. They do not dare
protect the Protestant faith: they do not dare secure the tranquillity
of the country."
"Are not O'Connell and the whole set under conviction at this moment?
I'm no politician myself, but the only question seems to be, whether
they haven't gone a step too far?"
"Why did they let that priest escape them?" said Mr O'Joscelyn.
"I suppose he was not guilty;" said Mr Armstrong; "at any rate, you had
a staunch Protestant jury."
"I tell you the priests are at the head of it all. O'Connell would be
nothing without them; he is only their creature. The truth is, the
government did not dare to frame an indictment that would really lead
to the punishment of a priest. The government is truckling to the false
hierarchy of Rome. Look at Oxford,--a Jesuitical seminary, devoted to
the secret propagation of Romish falsehood.--Go into the churches of
England, and watch their bowings, their genuflexions, their crosses and
their candles; see the demeanour of their apostate clergy; look into
their private oratories; see their red-lettered prayer-books, their
crucifixes, and images; and then, can you doubt that the most dreadful
of all prophecies is about to be accomplished?"
"But I have not been into their closets, Mr O'Joscelyn, nor yet into
their churches lately, and therefore I have not seen these things; nor
have I seen anybody who has. Have you seen crucifixes in the rooms of
Church of England clergymen? or candles on the altar-steps of English
churches?"
"God forbid that I should willingly go where such things are to be
seen; but of the fearful fact there is, unfortunately, no doubt. And
then, as to the state of the country, we have nothing round us but
anarchy and misrule: my life, Mr Armstrong, has not been safe any day
this week past."
"Good Heaven, Mr O'Joscelyn--your life not safe! I thought you were as
quiet here, in Kildare, as we are in Mayo."
"Wait till I tell you, Mr Armstrong: you know this priest, whom they
have let loose to utter more sedition?--He was coadjutor to the priest
in this parish."
"Was he? The people are not attacking you, I suppose, because he's let
loose?"
"Wait till I tell you. No; the people are mad because O'Connell and his
myrmidons are to be locked up; and, mingled with their fury on this
head are their insane rejoicings at the escape of this priest. They
are, therefore,--or were, till Saturday last, howling for joy and for
grief at the same time. Oh! such horrid howls, Mr Armstrong. I declare,
Mr Armstrong, I have trembled for my children this week past."
The earl, who well knew Mr O'Joscelyn, and the nature of his
grievances, had heard all these atrocities before; and, not being very
excited by their interest, had continued sipping his claret in silence
till he began to doze; and, by the time the worthy parson had got to
the climax of his misery, the nobleman was fast asleep.
"You don't mean that the people made any attack on the parsonage?" said
Mr Armstrong.
"Wait till I tell you, Mr Armstrong," replied the other. "On Thursday
morning last they all heard that O'Connell was a convicted felon."
"Conspirator, I believe? Mr O'Joscelyn."
"Conspiracy is felony, Mr Armstrong--and that their priest had been let
loose. It was soon evident that no work was to be done that day. They
assembled about the roads in groups; at the chapel-door; at Priest
Flannery's house; at the teetotal reading-room as they call it, where
the people drink cordial made of whiskey, and disturb the neighbourhood
with cracked horns; and we heard that a public demonstration was to be
made."
"Was it a demonstration of joy or of grief?"
"Both, Mr Armstrong! it was mixed. They were to shout and dance for joy
about Father Tyrrel; and howl and curse for grief about O'Connell; and
they did shout and howl with a vengeance. All Thursday, you would have
thought that a legion of devils had been let loose into Kilcullen."
"But did they commit any personal outrages, Mr O'Joscelyn?"
"Wait till I tell you. I soon saw how the case was going to be, and I
determined to be prepared. I armed myself, Mr Armstrong; and so did Mrs
O'Joscelyn. Mrs O'Joscelyn is a most determined woman--a woman of great
spirit; we were resolved to protect our daughters and our infants from
ill-usage, as long as God should leave us the power to do so. We both
armed ourselves with pistols, and I can assure you that, as far as
ammunition goes, we were prepared to give them a hot reception."
"Dear me! This must have been very unpleasant to Mrs O'Joscelyn."
"Oh, she's a woman of great nerve, Mr Armstrong. Mary is a woman of
very great nerve. I can assure you we shall never forget that Thursday
night. About seven in the evening it got darkish, but the horrid yells
of the wild creatures had never ceased for one half-hour; and, a little
after seven, twenty different bonfires illuminated the parish. There
were bonfires on every side of us: huge masses of blazing turf were to
be seen scattered through the whole country."
"Did they burn any thing except the turf, Mr O'Joscelyn?"
"Wait till I tell you, Mr Armstrong. I shall never forget that night;
we neither of us once lay down; no, not for a moment. About eight, the
children were put to bed; but with their clothes and shoes on, for
there was no knowing at what moment and in how sudden a way the poor
innocents might be called up. My daughters behaved admirably; they
remained quite quiet in the drawing-room till about eleven, when we
had evening worship, and then they retired to rest. Their mother,
however, insisted that they should not take off their petticoats or
stockings. At about one, we went to the hall-door: it was then bright
moonlight--but the flames of the surrounding turf overpowered the moon.
The whole horizon was one glare of light."
"But were not the police about, Mr O'Joscelyn?"
"Oh, they were about, to be sure, poor men; but what could they do? The
government now licenses every outrage."
"But what _did_ the people do?" said Mr Armstrong.
"Wait till I tell you. They remained up all night; and so did we, you
may be sure. Mary did not rise from her chair once that night without
a pistol in her hand. We heard the sounds of their voices continually,
close to the parsonage gate; we could see them in the road, from the
windows--crowds of them--men, women and children; and still they
continued shouting. The next morning they were a little more quiet, but
still the parish was disturbed: nobody was at work, and men and women
stood collected together in the roads. But as soon as it was dusk,
the shoutings and the bonfires began again; and again did I and Mrs
O'Joscelyn prepare for a night of anxious watching. We sat up all
Friday night, Mr Armstrong."
"With the pistols again?"
"Indeed we did; and lucky for us that we did so. Had they not known
that we were prepared, I am convinced the house would have been
attacked. Our daughters sat with us this night, and we were so far used
to the state of disturbance, that we were able to have a little
supper."
"You must have wanted that, I think."
"Indeed we did. About four in the morning, I dropped asleep on the
sofa; but Mary never closed her eyes."
"Did they come into the garden at all, or near the house?"
"No, they did not. And I am very thankful they refrained from doing so,
for I determined to act promptly, Mr Armstrong, and so was Mary--that
is, Mrs O'Joscelyn. We were both determined to fire, if we found our
premises invaded. Thank God the miscreants did not come within the
gate."
"You did not suffer much, then, except the anxiety, Mr O'Joscelyn?"
"God was very merciful, and protected us; but who can feel safe, living
in such times, and among such a people? And it all springs from Rome;
the scarlet woman is now in her full power, and in her full deformity.
She was smitten down for a while, but has now risen again. For a while
the right foot of truth was on her neck; for a while she lay prostrated
before the strength of those, who by God's grace, had prevailed against
her. But the latter prophecies which had been revealed to us, are now
about to be accomplished. It is well for those who comprehend the signs
of the coming time."
"Suppose we join the ladies," said the earl, awakened by the sudden
lull in Mr O'Joscelyn's voice. "But won't you take a glass of Madeira
first, Mr Armstrong?"
Mr Armstrong took his glass of Madeira, and then went to the ladies;
and the next morning, left Grey Abbey, for his own parish. Well;
thought he to himself, as he was driven through the park, in the earl's
gig, I'm very glad I came here, for Frank's sake. I've smoothed his
way to matrimony and a fortune. But I don't know anything which would
induce me to stay a week at Grey Abbey. The earl is bad--nearly
unbearable; but the parson!--I'd sooner by half be a Roman myself,
than think so badly of my neighbours as he does. Many a time since
has he told in Connaught, how Mr O'Joscelyn. and Mary, his wife, sat
up two nights running, armed to the teeth, to protect themselves from
the noisy Repealers of Kilcullen.
Mr Armstrong arrived safely at his parsonage, and the next morning he
rode over to Kelly's Court. But Lord Ballindine was not there. He had
started for Grey Abbey almost immediately on receiving the two letters
which we have given, and he and his friend had passed each other on the
road.
XXXIX. IT NEVER RAINS BUT IT POURS
When Frank had read his two letters from Grey Abbey, he was in such a
state of excitement as to be unable properly to decide what he would
immediately do. His first idea was to gallop to Tuam, as fast as his
best horse would carry him; to take four horses there, and not to
stop one moment till he found himself at Grey Abbey: but a little
consideration showed him that this would not do. He would not find
horses ready for him on the road; he must take some clothes with him;
and it would be only becoming in him to give the earl some notice of
his approach. So he at last made up his mind to postpone his departure
for a few hours.
He was, however, too much overcome with joy to be able to do anything
rationally. His anger against the earl totally evaporated; indeed, he
only thought of him now as a man who had a house in which he could meet
his love. He rushed into the drawing-room, where his mother and sisters
were sitting, and, with the two letters open in his hand, proclaimed
his intention of leaving home that day.
"Goodness gracious, Frank! and where are you going?" said Mrs O'Kelly.
"To Grey Abbey."
"No!" said Augusta, jumping up from her chair.
"I am so glad!" shouted Sophy, throwing down her portion of the
worsted-work sofa.
"You have made up your difference, then, with Miss Wyndham?" said the
anxious mother. "I am so glad! My own dear, good, sensible Frank!"
"I never had any difference with Fanny," said he. "I was not able
to explain all about it, nor can I now: it was a crotchet of the
earl's--only some nonsense; however, I'm off now--I can't wait a day,
for I mean to write to say I shall be at Grey Abbey the day after
to-morrow, and I must go by Dublin. I shall be off in a couple of
hours; so, for Heaven's sake, Sophy, look sharp and put up my things."
The girls both bustled out of the room, and Frank was following them,
but his mother called him back. "When is it to be, Frank? Come tell
me something about it. I never asked any questions when I thought the
subject was a painful one."
"God bless you, mother, you never did. But I can tell you nothing--only
the stupid old earl has begged me to go there at once. Fanny must
settle the time herself: there'll be settlements, and lawyer's work."
"That's true, my love. A hundred thousand pounds in ready cash does
want looking after. But look here, my dear; Fanny is of age, isn't
she?"
"She is, mother."
"Well now, Frank, take my advice; they'll want to tie up her money in
all manner of ways, so as to make it of the least possible use to you,
or to her either. They always do; they're never contented unless they
lock up a girl's money, so that neither she nor her husband can spend
the principal or the interest. Don't let them do it, Frank. Of course
she will be led by you, let them settle whatever is fair on her; but
don't let them bother the money so that you can't pay off the debts.
It'll be a grand thing, Frank, to redeem the property."
Frank hemmed and hawed, and said he'd consult his lawyer in Dublin
before the settlements were signed; but declared that he was not going
to marry Fanny Wyndham for her money.
"That's all very well, Frank," said the mother; "but you know you could
not marry her without the money, and mind, it's now or never. Think
what a thing it would be to have the property unencumbered!"
The son hurried away to throw himself at the feet of his mistress, and
the mother remained in her drawing-room, thinking with delight on the
renovated grandeur of the family, and of the decided lead which the
O'Kellys would again be able to take in Connaught.
Fanny's joy was quite equal to that of her lover, but it was not shown
quite so openly. Her aunt congratulated her most warmly; kissed her
twenty times; called her her own dear, darling niece, and promised her
to love her husband, and to make him a purse if she could get Griffiths
to teach her that new stitch; it looked so easy she was sure she could
learn it, and it wouldn't tease her eyes. Lady Selina also wished her
joy; but she did it very coldly, though very sensibly.
"Believe me, my dear Fanny, I am glad you should have the wish of your
heart. There were obstacles to your union with Lord Ballindine, which
appeared to be insurmountable, and I therefore attempted to wean you
from your love. I hope he will prove worthy of that love, and that you
may never have cause to repent of your devotion to him. You are going
greatly to increase your cares and troubles; may God give you strength
to bear them, and wisdom to turn them to advantage!"
The earl made a very long speech to her, in which there were but few
pauses, and not one full stop. Fanny was not now inclined to quarrel
with him; and he quite satisfied himself that his conduct, throughout,
towards his ward, had been dignified, prudent, consistent, and
disinterested.
These speeches and congratulations all occurred during the period of Mr
Armstrong's visit, and Fanny heard nothing more about her lover, till
the third morning after that gentleman's departure; the earl announced
then, on entering the breakfast-room, that he had that morning received
a communication from Lord Ballindine, and that his lordship intended
reaching Grey Abbey that day in time for dinner.
Fanny felt herself blush, but she said nothing; Lady Selina regretted
that he had had a very wet day yesterday, and hoped he would have a
fine day to-day; and Lady Cashel was overcome at the reflection that
she had no one to meet him at dinner, and that she had not yet suited
herself with a cook.
"Dear me," exclaimed her ladyship; "I wish we'd got this letter
yesterday; no one knows now, beforehand, when people are coming. I'm
sure it usen't to be so. I shall be so glad to see Lord Ballindine; you
know, Fanny, he was always a great favourite of mine. Do you think,
Selina, the O'Joscelyns would mind coming again without any notice? I'm
sure I don't know--I would not for the world treat Lord Ballindine
shabbily; but what can I do, my dear?"
"I think, my lady, we may dispense with any ceremony now, with Lord
Ballindine," said the earl. "He will, I am sure, be delighted to be
received merely as one of the family. You need not mind asking the
O'Joscelyns to-day."
"Do you think not? Well, that's a great comfort: besides, Lord
Ballindine never was particular. But still, Fanny, had I known he was
coming so soon, I would have had Murray down from Dublin again at once,
for Mrs Richards is not a good cook."
During the remainder of the morning, Fanny was certainly very happy;
but she was very uneasy. She hardly knew how to meet Lord Ballindine.
She felt that she had treated him badly, though she had never ceased
to love him dearly; and she also thought she owed him much for his
constancy. It was so good of him to send his friend to her--and one to
whom her uncle could not refuse admission; and then she thought she had
treated Mr Armstrong haughtily and unkindly. She had never thanked him
for all the trouble he had taken; she had never told him how very happy
he had made her; but she would do so at some future time, when he
should be an honoured and a valued guest in her own and her husband's
house.
But how should she receive her lover? Would they allow her to be alone
with him, if only for a moment, at their first meeting? Oh! How she
longed for a confidante! but she could not make a confidante of her
cousin. Twice she went down to the drawing-room, with the intention
of talking of her love; but Lady Selina looked so rigid, and spoke so
rigidly, that she could not do it. She said such common-place things,
and spoke of Lord Ballindine exactly as she would of any other visitor
who might have been coming to the house. She did not confine herself to
his eating and drinking, as her mother did; but she said, he'd find the
house very dull, she was afraid--especially as the shooting was all
over, and the hunting very nearly so; that he would, however, probably
be a good deal at the Curragh races.
Fanny knew that her cousin did not mean to be unkind; but there was
no sympathy in her: she could not talk to her of the only subject
which occupied her thoughts; so she retreated to her own room, and
endeavoured to compose herself. As the afternoon drew on, she began to
wish that he was not coming till to-morrow. She became very anxious;
she must see him, somewhere, before she dressed for dinner; and she
would not, could not, bring herself to go down into the drawing-room,
and shake hands with him, when he came, before her uncle, her aunt, and
her cousin.
She was still pondering on the subject, when, about four o'clock in the
afternoon, she got a message from her aunt, desiring her to go to her
in her boudoir.
"That'll do, Griffiths," said the countess, as Fanny entered her room;
"you can come up when I ring. Sit down, Fanny; sit down, my dear. I was
thinking Lord Ballindine will soon be here."
"I suppose he will, aunt. In his letter to Lord Cashel, he said he'd be
here before dinner."
"I'm sure he'll be here soon. Dear me; I'm so glad it's all made up
between you. I'm sure, Fanny, I hope, and think, and believe, you'll be
very, very happy."
"Dear aunt"--and Fanny kissed Lady Cashel. A word of kindness to her
then seemed invaluable.
"It was so very proper in Lord Ballindine to give up his horses, and
all that sort of thing," said the countess; "I'm sure I always said
he'd turn out just what he should be; and he is so good-tempered. I
suppose, dear, you'll go abroad the first thing?"
"I haven't thought of that yet, aunt," said Fanny, trying to smile.
"Oh, of course you will; you'll go to the Rhine, and Switzerland, and
Como, and Rome, and those sort of places. It'll be very nice: we went
there--your uncle and I--and it was delightful; only I used to be very
tired. It wasn't then we went to Rome though. I remember now it was
after Adolphus was born. Poor Adolphus!" and her ladyship sighed, as
her thoughts went back to the miseries of her eldest born. "But I'll
tell you why I sent for you, my dear: you know, I must go downstairs
to receive Lord Ballindine, and tell him how glad I am that he's come
back; and I'm sure I am very glad that he's coming; and your uncle will
be there. But I was thinking you'd perhaps sooner see him first alone.
You'll be a little flurried, my dear,--that's natural; so, if you like,
you can remain up here, my dear, in my room, quiet and comfortable, by
yourself; and Griffiths shall show Lord Ballindine upstairs, as soon as
he leaves the drawing-room."
"How very, very kind of you, dear aunt!" said Fanny, relieved from her
most dreadful difficulty. And so it was arranged. Lady Cashel went down
into the drawing-room to await her guest, and Fanny brought her book
into her aunt's boudoir, and pretended she would read till Lord
Ballindine disturbed her.
I need hardly say that she did not read much. She sat there over her
aunt's fire, waiting to catch the sound of the wheels on the gravel
at the front door. At one moment she would think that he was never
coming--the time appeared to be so long; and then again, when she heard
any sound which might be that of his approach, she would again wish to
have a few minutes more to herself.
At length, however, she certainly did hear him. There was the quick
rattle of the chaise over the gravel, becoming quicker and quicker,
till the vehicle stopped with that kind of plunge which is made by no
other animal than a post-horse, and by him only at his arrival at the
end of a stage. Then the steps were let down with a crash--she would
not go to the window, or she might have seen him; she longed to do so,
but it appeared so undignified. She sat quite still in her chair; but
she heard his quick step at the hail door; she was sure--she could have
sworn to his step--and then she heard the untying of cords, and pulling
down of luggage. Lord Ballindine was again in the house, and the
dearest wish of her heart was accomplished.
She felt that she was trembling. She had not yet made up her mind how
she would receive him--what she would first say to him--and certainly
she had no time to do so now. She got up, and looked in her
aunt's pier-glass. It was more a movement of instinct than one of
premeditation; but she thought she had never seen herself look so
wretchedly. She had, however, but little time, either for regret or
improvement on that score, for there were footsteps in the corridor. He
couldn't have stayed a moment to speak to anyone downstairs--however,
there he certainly was; she heard Griffiths' voice in the passage,
"This way, my lord--in my lady's boudoir;" and then the door opened,
and in a moment she was in her lover's arms.
"My own Fanny!--once more my own!"
"Oh, Frank! dear Frank!"
Lord Ballindine was only ten minutes late in coming down to dinner,
and Miss Wyndham not about half an hour, which should be considered as
showing great moderation on her part. For, of course, Frank kept her
talking a great deal longer than he should have done; and then she not
only had to dress, but to go through many processes with her eyes,
to obliterate the trace of tears. She was, however, successful, for
she looked very beautiful when she came down, and so dignified, so
composed, so quiet in her happiness, and yet so very happy in her
quietness. Fanny was anything but a hypocrite; she had hardly a taint
of hypocrisy in her composition, but her looks seldom betrayed her
feelings. There was a majesty of beauty about her, a look of serenity
in her demeanour, which in public made her appear superior to all
emotion.
Frank seemed to be much less at his ease. He attempted to chat easily
with the countess, and to listen pleasantly to the would-be witticisms
of the earl; but he was not comfortable, he did not amalgamate well
with the family; had there been a larger party, he could have talked
all dinner-time to his love; but, as it was, he hardly spoke a word to
her during the ceremony, and indeed, but few during the evening. He did
sit next to her on the sofa, to be sure, and watched the lace she was
working; but he could not talk unreservedly to her, when old Lady
Cashel was sitting close to him on the other side, and Lady Selina on a
chair immediately opposite. And then, it is impossible to talk to one's
mistress, in an ordinary voice, on ordinary subjects, when one has not
seen her for some months. A lover is never so badly off as in a family
party: a _tête-à-tête_, or a large assembly, are what suit him best:
he is equally at his ease in either; but he is completely out of his
element in a family party. After all, Lady Cashel was right; it would
have been much better to have asked the O'Joscelyns.
The next morning, Frank underwent a desperate interview in the
book-room. His head was dizzy before Lord Cashel had finished half of
what he had to say. He commenced by pointing out with what perfect
uprightness and wisdom he had himself acted with regard to his ward;
and Lord Ballindine did not care to be at the trouble of contradicting
him. He then went to the subject of settlements, and money matters:
professed that he had most unbounded confidence in his young friend's
liberality, integrity, and good feeling; that he would be glad to
listen, and, he had no doubt, to accede to any proposals made by him:
that he was quite sure Lord Ballindine would make no proposal which was
not liberal, fair, and most proper; and he said a great deal more of
the kind, and then himself proposed to arrange his ward's fortune in
such a way as to put it quite beyond her future husband's control. On
this subject, however, Frank rather nonplussed the earl by proposing
nothing, and agreeing to nothing; but simply saying that he would leave
the whole matter in the hands of the lawyers.
"Quite right, my lord, quite right," said Lord Cashel, "my men of
business, Green and Grogram, will manage all that. They know all about
Fanny's property; they can draw out the settlements, and Grogram can
bring them here, and we can execute them: that'll be the simplest way."
"I'll write to Mr Cummings, then, and tell him to wait on Messrs. Green
and Grogram. Cummings is a very proper man: he was recommended to me by
Guinness."
"Oh, ah--yes; your attorney, you mean?" said the earl. "Why, yes, that
will be quite proper, too. Of course Mr Cummings will see the necessity
of absolutely securing Miss Wyndham's fortune."
Nothing further, however, was said between them on the subject; and the
settlements, whatever was their purport, were drawn out without any
visible interference on the part of Lord Ballindine. But Mr Grogram,
the attorney, on his first visit to Grey Abbey on the subject, had no
difficulty in learning that Miss Wyndham was determined to have a will
of her own in the disposition of her own money.
Fanny told her lover the whole episode of Lord Kilcullen's offer to
her; but she told it in such a way as to redound rather to her cousin's
credit than otherwise. She had learned to love him as a cousin and
a friend, and his ill-timed proposal to her had not destroyed the
feeling. A woman can rarely be really offended at the expression of
love, unless it be from some one unfitted to match with her, either in
rank or age. Besides, Fanny thought that Lord Kilcullen had behaved
generously to her when she so violently repudiated his love: she
believed that it had been sincere; she had not even to herself accused
him of meanness or treachery; and she spoke of him as one to be pitied,
liked, and regarded; not as one to be execrated and avoided.
And then she confessed to Frank all her fears respecting himself; how
her heart would have broken, had he taken her own rash word as final,
and so deserted her. She told him that she had never ceased to love
him, for a day; not even on that day when, in her foolish spleen, she
had told her uncle she was willing to break off the match; she owned to
him all her troubles, all her doubts; how she had made up her mind to
write to him, but had not dared to do so, lest his answer should be
such as would kill her at once. And then she prayed to be forgiven for
her falseness; for having consented, even for a moment, to forget the
solemn vows she had so often repeated to him.
Frank stopped her again and again in her sweet confessions, and swore
the blame was only his. He anathematised himself, his horses, and
his friends, for having caused a moment's uneasiness to her; but she
insisted on receiving his forgiveness, and he was obliged to say that
he forgave her. With all his follies, and all his weakness, Lord
Ballindine was not of an unforgiving temperament: he was too happy to
be angry with any one, now. He forgave even Lord Cashel; and, had he
seen Lord Kilcullen, he would have been willing to give him his hand
as to a brother.
Frank spent two or three delightful weeks, basking in the sunshine
of Fanny's love, and Lord Cashel's favour. Nothing could be more
obsequiously civil than the earl's demeanour, now that the matter was
decided. Every thing was to be done just as Lord Ballindine liked;
his taste was to be consulted in every thing; the earl even proposed
different visits to the Curragh; asked after the whereabouts of Fin
M'Coul and Brien Boru; and condescended pleasantly to inquire whether
Dot Blake was prospering as usual with his favourite amusement.
At length, the day was fixed for the marriage. It was to be in the
pleasant, sweet-smelling, grateful month of May,--the end of May; and
Lord and Lady Ballindine were then to start for a summer tour, as the
countess had proposed, to see the Rhine, and Switzerland, and Rome, and
those sort of places. And now, invitations were sent, far and wide,
to relatives and friends. Lord Cashel had determined that the wedding
should be a great concern. The ruin of his son was to be forgotten in
the marriage of his niece. The bishop of Maryborough was to come and
marry them; the Ellisons were to come again, and the Fitzgeralds: a
Duchess was secured, though duchesses are scarce in Ireland; and great
exertions were made to get at a royal Prince, who was commanding the
forces in the west. But the royal Prince did not see why he should
put himself to so much trouble, and he therefore sent to say that he
was very sorry, but the peculiar features of the time made it quite
impossible for him to leave his command, even on so great a temptation;
and a paragraph consequently found its way into the papers, very
laudatory of his Royal Highness's military energy and attention. Mrs
O'Kelly and her daughters received a very warm invitation, which they
were delighted to accept. Sophy and Augusta were in the seventh heaven
of happiness, for they were to form a portion of the fair bevy of
bridesmaids appointed to attend Fanny Wyndham to the altar. Frank
rather pished and poohed at all these preparations of grandeur; he felt
that when the ceremony took place he would look like the ornamental
calf in the middle of it; but, on the whole, he bore his martyrdom
patiently. Four spanking bays, and a new chariot ordered from Hutton's,
on the occasion, would soon carry him away from the worst part of it.
Lord Cashel was in the midst of his glory: he had got an occupation
and he delighted in it. Lady Selina performed her portion of the work
with exemplary patience and attention. She wrote all the orders to
the tradesmen, and all the invitations; she even condescended to
give advice to Fanny about her dress; and to Griffiths, about the
arrangement of the rooms and tables. But poor Lady Cashel worked the
hardest of all,--her troubles had no end. Had she known what she was
about to encounter, when she undertook the task of superintending the
arrangements for her niece's wedding, she would never have attempted
it: she would never have entered into negotiations with that
treacherous Murray--that man cook in Dublin--but have allowed Mrs
Richards to have done her best,--or her worst,--in her own simple way,
in spite of the Duchess and the Bishop, and the hopes of a royal Prince
indulged in by Lord Cashel. She did not dare to say as much to her
husband, but she confessed to Griffiths that she was delighted when she
heard His Royal Highness would not come. She was sure his coming would
not make dear Fanny a bit happier, and she really would not have known
what to do with him after the married people were gone.
Frank received two letters from Dot Blake during his stay at Grey
Abbey. In the former he warmly congratulated him on his approaching
nuptials, and strongly commended him on his success in having arranged
matters. "You never could have forgiven yourself," he said, "had you
allowed Miss Wyndham's splendid fortune to slip through your hands. I
knew you were not the man to make a vain boast of a girl's love, and I
was therefore sure that you might rely on her affection. I only feared
you might let the matter go too far. You know I strongly advised you
not to marry twenty thousand pounds. I am as strongly of opinion that
you would be a fool to neglect to marry six times as much. You see I
still confine myself to the money part of the business, as though the
lady herself were of no value. I don't think so, however; only I know
you never would have lived happily without an easy fortune." And then
he spoke of Brien Boru, and informed Lord Ballindine that that now
celebrated nag was at the head of the list of the Derby horses; that
it was all but impossible to get any odds against him at all;--that
the whole betting world were talking of nothing else; that three
conspiracies had been detected, the object of which was to make him
safe--that is, to make him very unsafe to his friends; that Scott's
foreman had been offered two thousand to dose him; and that Scott
himself slept in the stable with him every night, to prevent anything
like false play.
The second letter was written by Dot, at Epsom, on the 4th of May,
thirty minutes after the great race had been run. It was very short;
and shall therefore be given entire.
Epsom, Derby Day,
Race just over.
God bless you, my dear boy--Brien has done the trick, and done it
well! Butler rode him beautifully, but he did not want any riding;
he's the kindest beast ever had a saddle on. The stakes are close
on four thousand pounds: your share will do well to pay the
posters, &c., for yourself and my lady, on your wedding trip. I win
well--very well; but I doubt the settling. We shall have awful faces
at the corner next week. You'll probably have heard all about it by
express before you get this.
In greatest haste, yours,
W. BLAKE.
The next week, the following paragraph appeared in "Bell's Life in
London."
It never rains but it pours. It appears pretty certain, now, that
Brien Boru is not the property of the gentleman in whose name he has
run; but that he is owned by a certain noble lord, well known on
the Irish turf, who has lately, however, been devoting his time to
pursuits more pleasant and more profitable than the cares of the
stable--pleasant and profitable as it doubtless must be to win
the best race of the year. The pick-up on the Derby is about four
thousand pounds, and Brien Boru is certainly the best horse of his
year. But Lord Ballindine's matrimonial pick-up is, we are told, a
clear quarter of a million; and those who are good judges declare
that no more beautiful woman than the future Lady Ballindine will
have graced the English Court for many a long year. His lordship,
on the whole, is not doing badly.
Lord Cashel, also, congratulated Frank on his success on the turf, in
spite of the very decided opinion he had expressed on the subject, when
he was endeavouring to throw him on one side.
"My dear Ballindine," he said, "I wish you joy with all my heart: a
most magnificent animal, I'm told, is Brien, and still partly your own
property, you say. Well; it's a great triumph to beat those English
lads on their own ground, isn't it? And thorough Irish blood,
too!--thorough Irish blood! He has the 'Paddy Whack' strain in him,
through the dam--the very best blood in Ireland. You know, my mare
'Dignity', that won the Oaks in '29, was by 'Chanticleer', out of
'Floribel', by 'Paddy Whack.' You say you mean to give up the turf,
and you know I've done so, too. But, if you ever do change your
mind--should you ever run horses again--take my advice, and stick to
the 'Paddy Whack' strain. There's no beating the real 'Paddy Whack'
blood."
On the 21st of May, 1844, Lord Ballindine and Fanny Wyndham were
married. The bishop "turned 'em off iligant," as a wag said in the
servants' hall. There was a long account of the affair in the "Morning
Post" of the day; there were eight bridesmaids, all of whom, it was
afterwards remarked, were themselves married within two years of the
time; an omen which was presumed to promise much continued happiness to
Lord and Lady Ballindine, and all belonging to them.
Murray, the man cook, did come down from Dublin, just in time; but he
behaved very badly. He got quite drunk on the morning of the wedding.
He, however, gave Richards an opportunity of immortalising herself. She
behaved, on the trying occasion, so well, that she is now confirmed
in her situation; and Lady Cashel has solemnly declared that she will
never again, on any account, be persuaded to allow a man cook to enter
the house.
Lady Selina--she would not officiate as one of the bridesmaids--is
still unmarried; but her temper is not thereby soured, nor her life
embittered. She is active, energetic, and good as ever: and, as ever,
cold, hard, harsh, and dignified. Lord Kilcullen has hardly been heard
of since his departure from Grey Abbey. It is known that he is living
at Baden, but no one knows on what. His father never mentions his name;
his mother sometimes talks of "poor Adolphus;" but if he were dead and
buried he could not give less trouble to the people of Grey Abbey.
No change has occurred, or is likely to take place, in the earl
himself--nor is any desirable. How could he change for the better? How
could he bear his honours with more dignity, or grace his high position
with more decorum? Every year since the marriage of his niece, he has
sent Lord and Lady Ballindine an invitation to Grey Abbey; but there
has always been some insuperable impediment to the visit. A child had
just been born, or was just going to be born; or Mrs O'Kelly was ill;
or one of the Miss O'Kellys was going to be married. It was very
unfortunate, but Lord and Lady Ballindine were never able to get as far
as Grey Abbey.
Great improvements have been effected at Kelly's Court. Old buildings
have been pulled down, and additions built up; a great many thousand
young trees have been planted, and some miles of new roads and walks
constructed. The place has quite an altered appearance; and, though
Connaught is still Connaught, and County Mayo is the poorest part of
it, Lady Ballindine does not find Kelly's Court unbearable. She has
three children already, and doubtless will have many more. Her nursery,
therefore, prevents her from being tormented by the weariness of the
far west.
Lord Ballindine himself is very happy. He still has the hounds, and
maintains, in the three counties round him, the sporting pre-eminence,
which has for so many years belonged to his family. But he has no
race-horses. His friend, Dot, purchased the lot of them out and out,
soon after the famous Derby; and a very good bargain, for himself,
he is said to have made. He is still intimate with Lord Ballindine,
and always spends a fortnight with him at Kelly's Court during the
hunting-season.
Sophy O'Kelly married a Blake, and Augusta married a Dillon; and, as
they both live within ten miles of Kelly's Court. and their husbands
are related to all the Blakes and all the Dillons; and as Ballindine
himself is the head of all the Kellys, there is a rather strong clan of
them. About five-and-twenty cousins muster together in red coats and
top-boots, every Tuesday and Friday during the hunting-season. It would
hardly be wise, in that country, to quarrel with a Kelly, a Dillon, or
a Blake.
XL. CONCLUSION
We must now return to Dunmore, and say a few parting words of the
Kellys and Anty Lynch; and then our task will be finished.
It will be remembered that that demon of Dunmore, Barry Lynch, has been
made to vanish: like Lord Kilcullen, he has gone abroad; he has settled
himself at an hotel at Boulogne, and is determined to enjoy himself.
Arrangements have been made about the property, certainly not very
satisfactory to Barry, because they are such as make it necessary for
him to pay his own debts; but they still leave him sufficient to allow
of his indulging in every vice congenial to his taste; and, if he
doesn't get fleeced by cleverer rogues than himself--which, however,
will probably be the case--he will have quite enough to last him till
he has drunk himself to death.
After his departure, there was nothing to delay Anty's marriage, but
her own rather slow recovery. She has no other relatives to ask, no
other friends to consult. Now that Barry was gone she was entirely
her own mistress, and was quite willing to give up her dominion over
herself to Martin Kelly. She had, however, been greatly shaken; not by
illness only, but by fear also--her fears of Barry and for Barry. She
still dreamed while asleep, and thought while awake, of that horrid
night when he crept up to her room and swore that he would murder her.
This, and what she had suffered since, had greatly weakened her, and it
was some time before Doctor Colligan would pronounce her convalescent.
At last, however, the difficulties were overcome; all arrangements were
completed. Anty was well; the property was settled; Martin was
impatient; and the day was fixed.
There was no bishop, no duchess, no man-cook, at the wedding-party
given on the occasion by Mrs Kelly; nevertheless, it was, in its way,
quite as grand an affair as that given by the countess. The widow
opened her heart, and opened her house. Her great enemy, Barry Lynch,
was gone--clean beaten out of the field--thoroughly vanquished; as far
as Ireland was concerned, annihilated; and therefore, any one else in
the three counties was welcome to share her hospitality. Oh, the excess
of delight the widow experienced in speaking of Barry to one of her
gossips, as the "poor misfortunate crature!" Daly, the attorney, was
especially invited, and he came. Moylan also was asked, but he stayed
away. Doctor Colligan was there, in great feather; had it not been for
him, there would probably have been no wedding at all. It would have
been a great thing if Lord Ballindine could have been got to grace
the party, though only for ten minutes; but he was at that time in
Switzerland with his own bride, so he could not possibly do so.
"Well, ma'am," said Mrs Costelloe, the grocer's wife, from Tuam, an
old friend of the widow, who had got into a corner with her to have a
little chat, and drink half-a-pint of porter before the ceremony,--"and
I'm shure I wish you joy of the marriage. Faux, I'm tould it's nigh to
five hundred a-year, Miss Anty has, may God bless and incrase it! Well,
Martin has his own luck; but he desarves it, he desarves it."
"I don't know so much about luck thin, Mrs Costelloe," said the widow,
who still professed to think that her son gave quite as much as he got,
in marrying Anty Lynch; "I don't know so much about luck: Martin was
very well as he was; his poor father didn't lave him that way that he
need be looking to a wife for mains, the Lord be praised."
"And that's thrue, too, Mrs Kelly," said the other; "but Miss Anty's
fortune ain't a bad step to a young man, neither. Why, there won't
be a young gintleman within tin--no, not within forty miles, more
respectable than Martin Kelly; that is, regarding mains."
"And you needn't stop there, Ma'am, neither; you may say the very same
regarding characther, too--and family, too, glory be to the Virgin. I'd
like to know where some of their ancesthers wor, when the Kellys of
ould wor ruling the whole counthry?"
"Thrue for you, my dear; I'd like to know, indeed: there's nothing,
afther all, like blood, and a good characther. But is it thrue, Mrs
Kelly, that Martin will live up in the big house yonder?"
"Where should a man live thin, Mrs Costelloe, when he gets married, but
jist in his own house? Why for should he not live there?"
"That's thrue agin, to be shure: but yet, only to think Martin--living
in ould Sim Lynch's big house! I wondther what ould Sim would say,
hisself, av he could only come back and see it!"
"I'll tell you what he'd say thin, av he tould the thruth; he'd say
there was an honest man living there, which wor niver the case as long
as any of his own breed was in it--barring Anty, I main; she's honest
and thrue, the Lord be good to her, the poor thing. But the porter's
not to your liking, Mrs Costelloe--you're not tasting it at all this
morning."
No one could have been more humble and meek than was Anty herself, in
the midst of her happiness. She had no idea of taking on herself the
airs of a fine lady, or the importance of an heiress; she had no wish
to be thought a lady; she had no wish for other friends than those of
her husband, and his family. She had never heard of her brother's last
horrible proposal to Doctor Colligan, and of the manner in which his
consent to her marriage had been obtained; nor did Martin intend that
she should hear it. She had merely been told that her brother had found
that it was for his advantage to leave the neighbourhood altogether;
that he had given up all claim to the house; and that his income was to
be sent to him by a person appointed in the neighbourhood to receive
it. Anty, however, before signing her own settlement, was particularly
careful that nothing should be done, injurious to her brother's
interest, and that no unfair advantage should be taken of his absence.
Martin, too, was quiet enough on the occasion. It was arranged that
he and his wife, and at any rate one of his sisters, should live at
Dunmore House; and that he should keep in his own hands the farm near
Dunmore, which old Sim had held, as well as his own farm at Toneroe.
But, to tell the truth, Martin felt rather ashamed of his grandeur. He
would much have preferred building a nice snug little house of his own,
on the land he held under Lord Ballindine; but he was told that he
would be a fool to build a house on another man's ground, when he had a
very good one ready built on his own. He gave way to such good advice,
but he did not feel at all happy at the idea; and, when going up to the
house, always felt an inclination to shirk in at the back-way.
But, though neither the widow nor Martin triumphed aloud at their
worldly prosperity, the two girls made up for their quiescence. They
were full of nothing else; their brother's fine house--Anty's great
fortune; their wealth, prosperity, and future station and happiness,
gave them subjects of delightful conversation among their friends. Meg.
moreover, boasted that it was all her own doing; that it was she who
had made up the match; that Martin would never have thought of it but
for her,--nor Anty either, for the matter of that.
"And will your mother be staying down at the shop always, the same as
iver?" said Matilda Nolan, the daughter of the innkeeper at Tuam.
"'Deed she says so, then," said Jane, in a tone of disappointment; for
her mother's pertinacity in adhering to the counter was, at present,
the one misery of her life.
"And which of you will be staying here along with her, dears?" said
Matilda. "She'll be wanting one of you to be with her, any ways."
"Oh, turn about, I suppose," said Jane.
"She'll not get much of my company, any way," said Meg. "I've had
enough of the nasty place, and now Martin has a dacent house to put
over our heads, and mainly through my mains I may say, I don't see why
I'm to be mewing myself up in such a hole as this. There's room for her
up in Dunmore House, and wilcome, too; let her come up there. Av she
mains to demain herself by sticking down here, she may stay by herself
for me."
"But you'll take your turn, Meg?" said Jane.
"It'll be a very little turn, then," said Meg; "I'm sick of the nasty
ould place; fancy coming down here, Matilda, to the tobacco and
sugar, after living up there a month or so, with everything nice and
comfortable! And it's only mother's whims, for she don't want the shop.
Anty begged and prayed of her for to come and live at Dunmore House for
good and all; but no; she says she'll never live in any one's house
that isn't her own."
"I'm not so, any way," said Jane; "I'd be glad enough to live in
another person's house av I liked it."
"I'll go bail you would, my dear," said Matilda; "willing
enough--especially John Dolan's."
"Oh! av I iver live in that it'll be partly my own, you know; and
may-be a girl might do worse."
"That's thrue, dear," said Matilda; "but John Dolan's not so soft as to
take any girl just as she stands. What does your mother say about the
money part of the business?"
And so the two friends put their heads together, to arrange another
wedding, if possible.
Martin and Anty did not go to visit Switzerland, or Rome, as soon as
they were married; but they took a bathing-lodge at Renvill, near
Galway, and with much difficulty, persuaded Mrs Kelly to allow both her
daughters to accompany them. And very merry they all were. Anty soon
became a different creature from what she ever had been: she learned
to be happy and gay; to laugh and enjoy the sunshine of the world. She
had always been kind to others, and now she had round her those who
were kind and affectionate to her. Her manner of life was completely
changed: indeed, life itself was an altered thing to her. It was so new
to her to have friends; to be loved; to be one of a family who regarded
and looked up to her. She hardly knew herself in her new happiness.
They returned to Dunmore in the early autumn, and took up their
residence at Sim Lynch's big house, as had been arranged. Martin was
very shy about it: it was long before he talked about it as his house,
or his ground, or his farm; and it was long before he could find
himself quite at home in his own parlour.
Many attempts were made to induce the widow to give up the inn, and
shift her quarters to the big house, but in vain. She declared that,
ould as she was, she wouldn't think of making herself throublesome to
young folks; who, may-be, afther a bit, would a dail sooner have her
room than her company: that she had always been misthress, and mostly
masther too, in her own house, glory be to God; and that she meant to
be so still; and that, poor as the place was, she meant to call it her
own. She didn't think herself at all fit company for people who lived
in grand houses, and had their own demesnes, and gardens, and the rest
of it; she had always lived where money was to be made, and she didn't
see the sense of going, in her old age, to a place where the only work
would be how to spend it. Some folks would find it was a dail asier to
scatther it than it wor to put it together. All this she said and a
great deal more, which had her character not been known, would have led
people to believe that her son was a spendthrift, and that he and Anty
were commencing life in an expensive way, and without means. But then,
the widow Kelly _was_ known, and her speeches were only taken at their
value.
She so far relaxed, however, that she spent every Sunday at the house;
on which occasions she invariably dressed herself with all the grandeur
she was able to display, and passed the whole afternoon sitting on
a sofa, with her hands before her, trying to look as became a lady
enjoying herself in a fine drawing-room. Her Sundays were certainly not
the comfort to her, which they had been when spent at the inn; but they
made her enjoy, with a keener relish, the feeling of perfect
sovereignty when she returned to her own domains.
I have nothing further to tell of Mr and Mrs Kelly. I believe Doctor
Colligan has been once called in on an interesting occasion, if not
twice; so it is likely that Dunmore House will not be left without an
heir.
I have also learned, on inquiry, that Margaret and Jane Kelly have both
arranged their own affairs to their own satisfaction.
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